Rebirth
by sweetpeachytrina
Summary: A top secret project funded and overseen by Bruce Wayne is compromised and Max is unwittingly caught in the mix. Now someone is out to make her their next test subject and Terry fights to protect her as he learns there are worse things then death...
1. Chapter 1

**Rebirth**

Summary: A top secret project funded and over seen by Bruce Wayne is compromised and Max is unwittingly caught in the mix. Now someone is out to make her their next test subject and Terry fights frantically to protect her as he learns there are far more worse things then death...

**Author's Note: (I don't want to give a big summary for the fear of revealing too much of the plot but I WILL say that if you are a shipper of Terry and Max then this is a story for you...) This story is going to be on the graphic side, so if you are easily offended then I would not suggest reading any further.**

**(Prologue)**

_The city of Gotham was alive and buzzing on a particular cool night in mid May. The north side was peaceful and the moon shone down through the clear glass windows of the high class houses on the upper East side. Families could be found sitting at the dining room table enjoying a four course meal, prepared by a well paid gourmet chef or gathered in the living room. The man of the house could be found lounging in his favorite arm chair most likely reading the stock market accelerations and what not in the news papers, while kids sat on the couch engrossed in their favorite television shows with their mothers repeatedly reminding them of unfinished homework and chores that needed to be finished. However, the south side of Gotham was a whole different story. Drugged out outcast teens could be found lurking in the shadows, eyes shining with the anticipation of catching an defenseless citizen strolling down the streets, to attack and rob. These troubled teens were usually the product of families who neglected them and were never around. Deeper in the slums, were criminals worse and far more dangerous then these teens. In the slums lurked the most notorious and vicious gangs known to the city. The jokers. Usually it was the jokers who were reeking havoc in dark alley's and on poorly secured establishment, but tonight was not a usual night. For something more sinister was taking place in a small apartment two blocks away. Something that was well hidden and guarded from the police who patrolled the city and from the dark vigilante himself... _

"Mommy, what's going on?!"

Diane King managed to open her blackened eyes and through her blurred vision she saw her two identical blonde haired daughters who had poked their heads into her bedroom with frightened looks on their faces. She felt a stab of fear pierce her heart as the man standing over her sent a sinister look in her daughter's direction. It was clear that he was more then willing to harm them and she wouldn't allow it. She'd die first.

"Leave them alone, Drake. I have what you want. If you so much as harm a hair on their head then you will never get the formula and I will kill you," she hissed breathing harshly as she lifted her head and glared at the man.

Drake smirked and knelt down so he was at her eye level.

"Diane, we've been partners and friends for three years. I am practically an uncle to those girls. Do you honestly think that I could do them any harm?" he asked mocking offense.

The woman glared at him in utter contempt.

"You just beat the hell out of me because I refused to tell you where the formulation is. I put nothing past you, creep," she snarled.

Drake smirk disappeared and was replaced by a cold smile.

"Please, don't hurt our Mommy," one of the girls pleaded tearfully.

She felt her heart break in her chest at the sound of terror in their voices.

"Marie, I'm fine. You and Skylar go watch T.V and mommy is going to come up and make you some dinner in a minute, ok?" she coaxed forcing a smile, which was difficult to do with her busted swollen lip.

They nodded obediently and quietly shut the door. She breathed relieved as she heard their footsteps fade down the hall towards the living room. At least her daughters were safe for the moment.

"Jullian, go in there and keep an eye on the brats. Skylar isn't too bright but Marie might try to get smart and call the cops," Drake said gruffly.

Jullian, a stocky blonde haired man, with disturbing grey eyes nodded silently, exiting the bedroom.

Her relief faded as she buried her face in her trembling hands feeling drained. In a matter of forty eight hours, her life had went from peaceful to chaos and she rued the very moment she had allowed things to go so horribly wrong.

She was a genetic scientist at Wayne's Labs where she worked secretly on a top secret project she named Resurrection. It was a project where she focused on fusing regeneration cells with those already dead to revive a subject. Three years her hard work had been a failure and many times she had been close to giving up when earlier that night her partner had shocked her with bringing a dead body into the lab. From the looks of it the man had been homeless and remembering the track marks on his arms she knew he had been a junkie, and from first glance it appeared he died from an over dose of some kind. However after taking a closer look she spotted a small deep stab wound in his chest which confirmed what she had initially dreaded. He had been murdered. She had insisted that they call an ambulance for the body, but Ramon Drake, her partner, had a more darker idea. He had informed her that the body would be used as an experiment for the newly altered formula of the project. She had refused firmly, stating it was against ethics protocol's to operate on deceased human beings, but he had been aggressively insistent. He had grab the serum and needle and plunged it into the dead body before she could stop him. For a long moment nothing happened and she had been ready to call the police when the junkie had sat up on the medical table, gasping as life surged through his lungs once more...

She had been stunned. The project had finally produced success. With the formula, she could help people with missing limbs regenerate new ones, and so much more. In her joy she had not noticed the dark way the junkie had been starring at her partner.

**Flashback**

_"You tried to kill me," he accused glaring at Ramon with hostility._

_Ramon hadn't deny the accusation but merely smirked._

_"You are a delinquent. A menace to this city. You are expendable. You are just lucky I decided to bring you back to life," he said arrogantly._

_The junkie had been livid._

_"You people are freaks! What gives you the right to play God?" he had demanded seething._

**Flashback Ends**

If she had noticed the junkie's malicious expression then she would have sensed the danger lurking in the atmosphere, and she didn't realize it until it was too late. Far too late. The junkie had attacked Drake and the two men had went at each other intensely, one fighting to kill and the other fighting to stay alive. Their brawling nearly destroyed the lab. Things had came to a screeching halt when Drake shoved the Junkie away causing him to trip and fall entangled in a bunch of wires still plugged in the sockets. During the fight several flasks of liquid had fail on the wires causing the short circuit and when the junkie landed on them it had shocked him, seemingly killing him...

"I don't have all night, Diane." Ramon's caustic voice snapped her back to reality.

She stared at him defiantly.

"What happen to you Ramon? We once both shared the same dream. The dream of using this project to good! When did you decide to sellout your love of science for financial gain and power?" she demanded evenly.

He laughed amused at the indignation in her voice.

"I don't have to debate my morale conscious with you. You can either tell me where the formula is or things will get very ugly. You were right. I won't hurt those girls, and my friend Jullian has a past history with young girls. He might get a little too friendly and I might not be around to stop him," he said innocently.

Diane felt bile rise in her throat.

"You sick bastard!" She choked back a sob as she quickly realized how hopeless her situation was. Moving quickly she reached under her bed where she kept the secrets and progress of the project in a small rectangle safety deposit box for protection. She was pulling the box out slowly when her eyes rested on the taser she kept for protection. Moving discreetly she grabbed the weapon firmly in her hand. She crawled out from under the bed and rose to her feet slowly. Drake eagerly grabbed at the box missing the flash of blue electricity as Diane powered the taser up to its full intensity. She jabbed it into the side of neck causing him to cry out weakly before falling to his knees. He convulsed violently before going unconscious.

"That's for threatening my girls," she spat venomously.

Her heart jumped in her chest as she heard the sound of glass shattering followed by the sounds of her daughters scream. Dropping the taser she grabbed the gun she kept in the top desk drawer for protection and scrambled off of the floor, knocking over a chair in front of her vanity mirror as she bolted out of her room. Racing into the living room she found her two daughters huddled together in the corner screaming. A lamp had been knocked over along with several vases leaving shards of gleaming off the hard oak floor. She was stunned to see Jullian's body lying motionless on the floor. He had a gash in his skull, and blood was forming a pool around his head. Looking up she saw his attacker and her heart stopped beating momentarily in her chest. What lurked across the room caused all the blood to drain out of her face. It was the junkie she had experimented on but he had been physically altered. His skin was a pale gray with flesh falling off on his arms and neck. His fingers were curled monstrously with the skeletal bones exposed and his face... she felt the urge to vomit. His eyes were yellow and sunken into his skull and his nose and mouth were misshapen and hideously distorted. He looked hideous.

"What the hell did you do to me, bitch?" he snarled taking a menacing step towards her.

Diane stumbled back in fear quickly raising her gun pointing it at his chest.

"S-stay back." She looked at the monster wide eyed with naked terror.

He hissed agitated.

"I followed him here. I know he is here. Now tell me where he is!" he screamed picking up the over turned armchair and hurling it across the kitchen causing glasses to break loudly.

Her daughters sobs grew louder.

"You are suppose to be dead. I saw Drake kill you," she whispered paralyzed with fear. The formula was suppose to revive a subject with an injection. She hadn't seen Ramon revive the junkie which meant...

She felt her body tense as she tried desperately not to think about the horrible consequence she had overlooked. If the rejuvenation cells kept multiplying inside the host, then it meant each time he died, he would come back to life. It meant that he was immoral.

He laughed, an ugly, harsh sound.

"Your friend Drake tried to kill me, twice. I think the first time he should have left me that way. Look at me! I am a monster! Some kind of freak and someone is going to pay. I followed him here. You can either tell me where he is, or I will force it out of you. Either way, that bastard is going to pay for what he did to me," he swore, his voice dangerously low as he took a menacing step towards her.

"S-stay where you are, or I will shoot you," she warned shaking violently.

The junkie looked at her hatefully.

He lunged towards her snarling and closing her eyes she fired the gun twice. She felt something warm and wet splatter across her face. Trembling she opened her eyes and saw the Junkie lying at her feet with two bullet holes in his chest not moving. She stared down at him shocked that she had killed another person. The sound of her daughters crying jolted her out of her daze and she knew she had to react quickly. They weren't out of harms way yet. Once people found out that the project was successful, there would be plenty of dangerous people after her.

"C'mon girls. Let's go," she cried grabbing their hands in one hand and her car keys in the other before dashing out of the house towards the car. She opened the door and ushered the girls inside into the back seat.

Once she was sure they were safely buckled in she jumped into the driver's seat fumbling to put the keys into the engine. Nothing. It squealed trying to roar to life before powering down.

She froze when she heard an inhuman scream come from inside followed by sounds of a scuffle.

"No, don't. Please _noooooo." _ She cringed at the sound of Ramon's tortured voice.

Then there was silence.

The junkie had survived the bullet wounds which amazed and terrified her. Never once did she stop to think about the consequences of immortality and now it was too late.

"Cmon you piece of shit," she hissed turning the key violently into the ignition with one hand while gripping the steering wheel with the other.

Finally after long seconds of frustration she succeeded and the vehicle roared to life. As she backed out of her driveway she was too preoccupied and flustered to notice a black car with tinted windows driving behind her with ominously.


	2. Chapter 2

Max tapped the end of her mechanical pencil between her teeth bored as she listened to Blake, Dana and Chelsea drone on about the exciting world of fashion. They had all came over to Chelsea's house under the pretense of having a study group, but the chances of any studying taking place had disappeared when Blake had began to rummage through Chelsea's closet.

While she could usually tolerate her friends pointless chatter, tonight was different. She was restless and her mind was wandering which was why she missed Blake's question directed to her about a certain red mini dress she was currently admiring on Dana. Glancing at the clock on the wall she saw the small hand slowly inching past nine. It was getting late and while she needed to study, she also could use sleep. A soft snore interrupted her musing and she her eyes wandered over to Terry who was sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, with his eyes shut and mouth half open obviously asleep. He had needed the tutorial and had tagged along, but when the girls abandoned the text books in favor of gossip and clothes, Terry had crashed immediately. She spotted a smear of drool on his cheek and grinned amused. It reminded her how he had looked that past weekend when he had spent the night over her place on the couch. He rarely did that, but one of his patrol shifts had went late into the morning and his mother had locked his window while cleaning earlier that day so instead of waking her up at four in the morning and risking getting grounded for life he had come to her place. Later he had called and lied to his mother and said he had worked overtime for Bruce which she had believed easily. Terry had been stopping by her apartment more and more and while she wasn't usually bothered by his constant presence in her life she was suddenly bothered now. She had a thing about getting too close to anyone. Her parents and sister was absent in her life and because of that she preferred to keep people at a distance so she wouldn't get hurt. She knew Terry would never abandon her, but a part of her felt she needed to keep him at arms length, to avoid any chance of him doing so.

Ten minutes later she breathed a sigh of relief as nine o clock rolled around ending the session officially. She gathered her books off the floor and smirked as she walked over to Terry, resting her hands on his shoulder shaking him gently. He sat up abruptly looking around frantically.

"I missed the entire session?" he groaned wiping the sleep put of his eyes.

Max laughed amused and slung her knapsack with her books over her shoulder.

"Go home and get some rest, Ter," she said flashing him a smile before breezing out of the bedroom, waving goodbye to the trio of girls who were now excitedly looking through pairs of shoes.

"Wait up Max," he mumbled groggily as he fell in step beside her as they walked together outside of the huge house.

The night was absolutely gorgeous. Max closed her eyes briefly enjoying the feel of the wind on her face. The moon was high in the sky with a few clouds making the evening cool and enjoyable instead of hot and miserable.

"Long day?" she asked as he followed her down the drive way towards his car.

Terry groaned and combed his fingers through his black hair wearily.

"Bruce kinda owed the Commissioner a favor and so he 'requested' I stake out Gotham's south side harbor all night last night. She got a tip that some major drug trafficking was going on down there," he informed resting against the side of the car and closing his eyes.

Max ears perked up intrigued.

"Go on," she urged. Max had fell asleep early the previous night and she was mentally kicking herself that she had missed out on listening in on a drug bust. Terry was adamant about her not interfering but every now and then he would throw her a bone and let her listen in on the action by "accidentally" leaving the com link open. They both were discreet with this fact seeing how Bruce would be livid with Terry if he knew.

"Funny thing is that there was absolutely _no _action down there and the commissioner's informant has gone missing so I concluded that they had to realize that he turned on them, dealt with him, and terminated the trade for last night," he mumbled.

"Which means the surveillance you were doing was pointless," she said sympathetically.

"To say the least. I got like three hours of sleep and I have patrol again tonight not to mention I have yet to study for Ms. Lynn's Civics' test and Dana has been pretty testy with me lately," he sighed heavily.

Max shook her head amused, inadvertently causing several strands of her pink bang she had decided to grow out, to fall in her face. Whenever Terry reached his breaking point she made it her official job as his unofficial side kick to step in and levitate some of the pressure she had skills in handling such as his school work and girlfriend issues, however she was hesitant because keeping him at arm length meant she shouldn't be too involved in his life. Her resolve crumbled as she observed the weariness on her friend's face. He looked worn to the bone and at that moment she didn't have the heart to deny him her help.

"Well Lynn's test is pretty easy so if you come by later I can give you my infamous 'instant success' tutorial and I'll just casually mention to Dana that you are going to be spending some quality time with family so she'll be off your back for a few days," she said reluctantly forcing a smile.

Terry tilted his head opening one eye slightly and giving her a warm smile.

"Max, you are a life saver. I don't know how I could do any of this without you," he said immediately feeling the relief of the pressure that had been building up on his shoulders.

She smiled at his gratitude while feeling uneasy. Pushing him away would prove to be harder then she thought.

The sounds of heels clicking softly against the concrete pavement drew their attention towards Dana who was walking towards them with a smile.

"Some study session that was. I'm sorry Ter. I know I promise to help you study for the test coming up in Lynn's class, but as usual Chelsea, Blake, and I got carried away," she said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," he paused to give Max an amused smile, "Max has offered to give me her "instant success tutorial."

"Well I'm offering to give you a _one on one _tutorial. You wouldn't want to pass that up would you? She asked coyly with a secret smile on her lips.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she was hinting at.

Terry stifled a heavy yawn.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to Dana. I really need to pass Lynn's class and the only way I can study is if I'm not distracted," he mumbled sleepily wishing there was a bed nearby that he could fall into.

Max winced at the sour look on her friend's face. Apparently a sleep deprecated Terry should never be allowed to speak, because his girlfriend was not looking the least bit appeased by his excuses and Max couldn't blame her.

"So you rather study with Max then with me?" she huffed annoyed.

Max gulped.

_This was definitely not going to end well..._

"Dana, can we not fight about this right now? I don't even understand why you are so upset. It's not like you haven't known that I studied with Max before," he said sighing heavily.

Max decided to intervene. If she didn't fix things quick Terry was going to lose a girlfriend and she was going to lose a good friend.

"If you don't want him to study with me Dana then I won't," she said quickly.

Terry looked at her sharply.

"Max," he warned.

She cut him off abruptly.

"You two are my friends. My best friends and I don't want you two to fight over something silly as studying for test. It's not sway," she said firmly.

Dana looked at her pink haired friend suddenly guilty.

"Listen, Max. I didn't mean to imply," she started.

"I know. It's been a long day and everyone is tired so let's go home and get some sleep," she suggested with a smile.

"Max, can I talk to you over here alone?" Terry growled gently grabbing her by the forearm and pulling her off to the side out of Dana's hearing range. Max pulled away from him and gave him a stern look.

"Listen McGuiness, you're not helping your case here with Dana. I get that your tired and you can't think straight at the moment, but I just saved your ass from being handed to you by your highly pissed off girlfriend," she said evenly jabbing her index finger into his chest while her other hand was planted on her hip.

Terry glared at her.

"Why did you tell her you can't study with me? You always help me out," he asked confused.

"Terry, are you seriously that blind? Dana all but accused you of preferring my company over hers and you don't get why I can't study with you?" she asked stunned.

Terry looked at her in disbelief.

"Dana was venting her frustration. She doesn't really believe that," he tried.

"Ter, just listen to me. Dana isn't the only one to think we might be spending too much time together," she said quietly.

Terry looked at her startled.

"What? Did someone say something to you?" he asked gently.

Max swallowed deeply.

"No. I just think that we have been spending too much time together lately and I think we need a little bit of space between us," she mumbled.

"Whatever happened to "we're a team"?" he protested.

"No, Ter. We are not a team. You are out saving the world while I'm stuck living your life and mine. I'm the one keeping up with your classes. I'm the one who's breaking dates with your girlfriend and I just need some time for me. It won't be forever, but I just need a break," she softly.

Terry sighed softly.

"Ok, listen. I am sorry I haven't been a good friend to you and that's going to change. I promise. Just don't push me away," he said quietly, stepping closer to her.

Dana stared between the two utterly confused. The tension between them was electric and she was stunned. She had never seen the two at odds with each other. Max's defensive body language and Terry's defeated stance spoke volumes.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she mumbled turning and walking away.

"Max it's not safe for you to walk home in the dark! Anything could happen to you. Why don't you jump in with me and Terry?" Dana called after her worried.

"Yeah, she's right, Max. Let me give you a ride home," Terry said wearily.

"I'll be _fine,_ Terry. I don't need you to worry about me. I live right around the corner. Go spin time with your girlfriend," she pleaded.

He stared at her helpless. He could tell something was bothering her but he couldn't figure out what it was and he knew she would be too stubborn to tell him. She had been acting strangely for the past week and he felt bad for not pressing her on the issue but he had been so busy, and judging from the sharp glare she was giving him, she wasn't up for a heart to heart chat at that particular moment. Against his better judgement he relented.

"Fine. As soon as you get home call me, ok? "He said softly, getting her reluctant promise before getting into the car and roaring off down the street.


	3. Chapter 3

_There goes my ride, _she mused sullen as she watched the car fly off down the street quickly becomming a black dot in the horizon. Looking around she no longer saw any signs of her friends leaving her alone in the dark. Now in a particularly sour mood, Max slung her bag over her shoulder as she made her way out of Chelsea's drive way and began to walk towards her home. Or better yet the empty house with only the company of her cat waiting to welcome her. Exhaling deeply Max began to sink into the mode of self pity that she always desperately tried to advoid for the sake of her sanity. She hated feeling sorry for herself, but sometimes reality would hit her harder then a ton of bricks and she had no choice but to face her overwhelming state of solitude. At least she had Terry, she thought wryly. Usually that would bring some kind of comfort, but today it only bought more sadness. It was pathetic that she had to pick a fight with him to get him to back off, when all she really wanted was to be near him. It was her fear of being abandoned that made her hesitate.

This was her simplistic life. Going to school being a straight A student, comming home to herself, and being the casual sidekick of a the dark knight who protected the city. A praised vigilante that just happened to be her best friend and the guy she was having conflicting feelings about. Fighting back a laugh she realize how pathetic her situation seemed. Terry would never look her as being more than a friend, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for him to. It would just upset the natural order of things and Terry was definetly a man of order. He fought to protect the city, he fought to maintain his faimly and he fought to keep a girlfriend he never afforded to spend time with. Her feelings didn't matter and so she fought hard to swallow them and play the part of the devoted dependable best friend. Things were less complicated and easier that way. Growling frusterated she crossed the street trying to focus her attention on anything but Terry.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of car horn blaring furiously.

She stopped as she heard a loud crash come from above her. She looked up to see two cars had collided mid air. She gasped as she spotted one of the cars which had lost all power and was on fire crashing towards the ground. Acting quickly she ran to a safe distance and crotched down inside of an alley to advoid being caught in the fiery debris of the crash. The force of the impact of the car hitting the ground cause the building she was leaning against to tremble slightly. Her heart raced furiously when she heard the sound of children crying. Running back into the opening she quickly surveyed the scene. The car was flipped upside down with the tires spinning facing up in the air. Thick smoke was pouring out of the hood and soon a small fire ignited. Bystanders had gathered and was looking on horrified but no one move to do anything. Judging from how many people were on thier cell phones she knew somebody had called for help and the fire department were probably be on the way a but her gut told them that no one would't get there in time. Especially not Batman seeing how the dark knight was somewhere parked making out with Dana right about now. Hearing the children frightned screams jolted her into action and moving as quick as her legs could carry her she rushed over to the car in flames and was distraught to find two small twin girls trapped in the back seat banging out the window pleading with her to get them out. Peeking into the driver seat, she saw a woman bent over the steering wheel unconcious with a nasty gash across her forehead. She grasped the door handle to open the door when she yanked away with a yelp. The metal was burning hot from the heat.

"You and your sister go to the otherside of the car and keep your faces covered. I'm going to break the glass so I can get you out, ok?" she smiled comfortly despite the fear creeping up her spine.

The two girls nodded tearfully and moved to the other side of the car obediantly clinging tightly to each other as they lowered the faces.

Max looked around frantically for an object she could use to gain access into the car. Seconds later her eye caught something silver glinting in the light of the flames a few feet away. She rushed over and found a lead pipe lying near a sewage drain. Grabbing her object of salvation she sprinted back over to the car. Grasping the lead pipe tightly in both hands she swung it forcefully successfully shattering the window after three blows. Acting quickly she tossed the pipe aside and reached into the car reaching for the two girls who stared at her scared and uncertain.

"Come on sweethearts. I won't hurt you. I just want to get you out of this car so you wont get hurt," she coaxed trying to keep her voice steady. She had never been so scared in her life. She was inhaling the spilled fumes of gasoline and smoke from the fire and she knew that any minute the car would go up in flames.

The girls sensing her urgency scrambled over each other and climbed into her arms. They couldn't have been any older then five or six years old.

Cradling them carefully in her arms, she bolted several yards away from the car accident where she placed them down with a crowd of bystanders watching the scene terrified.

"Mommy!" one of the girls sobbed hysterically pointing to the car that was quickly being consumed with flames.

Max was preparing to run back to the car when a man gripped her arm.

"Miss, it's too dangerous. Any minute that car is going to explode and you don't want to be anywhere near it when it happens," he warned.

Max frowned.

"I can get to her in time," she said firmly trying to pull away.

When the man refused to release her she knew something wasn't right.

"If you don't let me go and try to get that lady out of the car she is going to die. What part of that don't you get?" she snarled struggling to get loose.

As the man stared down at her coldly a sudden realization occurred to Max causing her eyes to widen in horror.

"You were in the other car that crashed into her! Did you purposely cause this accident?" she demanded angrily.

She yelped in pain as the man tightened his grip on her arm.

"You ask too many questions, lady. You should walk away and pretend you didn't see anything and nothing bad will happen to you. Are we clear?" he growled menacingly with malice in his hard gray eyes.

Max tensed. She knew the smart thing would be to take the man's advise, but the sounds of the young girls crying a few feet away wouldn't allow her to do the smart thing. Her conscious couldn't handle standing by and letting the woman die. She stared at the man defiantly.

"Well we are crystal clear about one thing," she said her voice low and taunting.

He smiled loosening his grip slightly thrown off by her submissive demeanor.

She acted swiftly kicking him sharply in the shin causing him to howl in pain as he released her.

"You can go to hell," she spat glaring at him in contempt before racing back towards the car.

As her sneakers pounded against the hard pavement she closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer up to the heavens.

_"God, please let Terry get her soon. I really can use his help right now."_ she whispered desperately.


	4. Chapter 4

"I am glad we got to spend some time together tonight, Terry. For a moment I was beginning to wonder whether or not I still had a boyfriend," Dana joked softly looking down into her lap as she tucked a piece of her jet black hair behind her ear securely.

They were parked in front of Dana's huge well lit house and Terry smiled at her warmly before leaning over and placing a warm kiss on her lips. It was meant to be brief, but Dana gently placed her hands on both sides of his face deepening the kiss. He closed his eyes allowing himself to kiss her back. It felt nice. She eventually pulled away, her cheeks tinted a light pink.

"I know I'm not always understanding when it comes to your job, but I really wish that they we could spend more time together. I miss you," she said softly with genuine sadness in her voice.

Terry felt a sharp pang of guilt tear at his heart as she gazed at him with a rueful expression on her pretty face.

"I wish I could cut back the hours, Dana, but I need the money to help take care of my mom and Matt," he said sighing, not feeling too bad because he didn't exactly lie.

Truth was money in the McGuiness house hold was tight and Terry felt the need to help out. His mother had been working herself to the bone and Terry hated coming home seeing her exhausted so he worked longer hours so his mother wouldn't have to. Dana seemed to understand and flashed him a warm smile which caused him to feel somewhat relieve not knowing that the relief would be temporary at most.

"Well how about I come babysit for Matt? It's been awhile since me and him hung out and it will give your mom a break for awhile," she suggested biting down on the corner of her lip softly with a hopeful look in her dark eyes.

Terry squirmed nervously.

"Well Max actually is babysitting the squirt this weekend and she promised to take him to the premiere of this new game opening at the arcade and he's really looking forward to it," he said apologetic.

She frowned.

"It just seems like you depend on her a lot lately. She's always covering for you, helping you, babysitting your brother," she said quietly.

"Max is just always there when I need her," he said immediately wishing he had re worded his statement differently once the words had left his mouth.

Dana narrowed her dark eyes at him angrily.

"Are you saying that I am never there for you?" she demanded.

He groaned softly. This was already a long night and he had no desire to make it any longer.

"Dana, listen," he tried, but the Asian girl wasn't listening.

"I just hate the fact that she sees more of my boyfriend then I do. Why can't I be the one to cover for you? Why can't I be the one helping you and babysitting your brother? I'm your girlfriend. I'm suppose to be there for you and how can I do that if you won't let me?," she asked exasperated.

Terry sighed not knowing what to say.

"I think I know why you have been having Max cover for you. I think she is in on what you are doing," she said softly.

Terry froze and for a long moment neither of them said a word. He knew this conversation was going into dangerous territory and if he didn't do something quick then he would have a bigger mess on his hands.

"I've been thinking and it doesn't add up. Why would a billionaire have you working late hours? Your just a teenager," she protested.

He looked up as she rested her hand on his knee, her eyes boring into his seriously.

"If you are getting back into your old ways then just tell me. I can help," she said surprising him.

He knew she was referring to the time he had did time in juvie hall two years ago. He had been a rebellious kid getting in and out of trouble and a part of him was immensely relieved that she had stumbled onto the wrong conclusion, but another part was hurt that she would actually think he would go back to that lifestyle. Looking at her he felt she barely knew him, and it was true. She was practically a stranger to him and he was definitely a stranger to her. He was starting to realize that the relationship was dying and on a fast track to being dead and he wasn't sure if he wanted to revive it. He was tired of lying to her and he was certain that she was tired of being lied to.

"If you honestly think that I'm falling back into my old habits why don't you break up with me?" he asked fatigued.

Dana's bottom lip quivered dangerously.

"Is that what you really want, Ter?" she whispered on the verge of tears.

He stared at her helplessly. It killed him that he was hurting her and for a brief moment he was seriously about to end things when he stopped abruptly. He realized that he couldn't. He cared about her and deep down he knew he owed it to her to try harder to make their relationship work.

"Oh God, it's what you really want," she whispered sadly as a single tear slid down her cheek.

He stared at her stricken as she cried.

"Dana, I didn't mean," he was cut of when she opened the car door abruptly.

"Don't bother," she cried angrily before climbing out of the car and heading up the driveway towards the entrance of her house. After watching her disappear through the front door of her house he muttered a frustrated curse under his breath. He really screwed up this time and he wasn't sure he could fix it.

After his huge fight with Dana he wasn't sure how much more women issues he could face, but he knew he had to go and talk to Max. He was genuinely worried about her. She never pushed him away and that was what concerned him the most. He began to wonder if the burden of knowing his secret was beginning to be too much for her.

As he pulled out of the drive way and made his way towards Max's house he grabbed his phone out of his jacket pocket and groaned when he saw he had several missed call's from Bruce Wayne. The old man was going to kill him. Quickly he hit the redial button and it didn't take long before the billionaire was on the line.

"Mcguiness, where in the hell have you been?" Bruce snapped on the other end of the receiver.

Terry winced and placed the call on the loud speaker to prevent having his ear screamed into. For the old man to raise his voice to that particular octave meant that he was seriously in trouble.

"I had a study session and I had to take Dana home," he started to explain.

The elderly man cut him sharply.

"You were suppose to be on patrol an half hour ago. There is no excuse for you being late for your shift," he said evenly.

Terry gritted his teeth in anger as he clenched the steering wheel tightly in frustration. He was sick of it all. The complications with Dana, Bruce nagging, the lack of sleep...it was becoming too much. He was only one person. He couldn't be everywhere at once and he was tired of being chewed out. He was about to speak his mind when Bruce, once again, cut him off.

"We will talk about this later. Right now you need to get suited up. There's been some kind of an accident on the East side of Gotham," he started.

Terry spotted smoke coming through a few buildings below him and grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do was play fire fighter, but he knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. No matter how tired he was it was his responsibility to save those who couldn't save themselves. It was the oath he took when he first accepted the responsibilities of the suit and it was an oath he had to honor.

"I think I'm at the spot. It looks like theirs been a car accident. I'll go check it out. I don't think there is time to switch into the suit," Terry warned.

There was brief pause.

"Fine, but exercise caution." The line went dead.

Terry smirked and lowered his car outside the perimeter of the accident scene and jumped out of the car racing through the throngs of people looking around for anyone who needed aiding. He tensed as he watched the flames from one of the cars connected with a stream of gasoline leaked on the ground making a slow trail towards the over turned vehicle.

Quickly he began to shout at the bystanders to get back. The crowd immediately began to back away to a safer distance, but two little girls standing on the sidewalk clutching each tightly refused to move despite the coaxing of a teen girl standing over them.

"Their mother is trapped in the car. There is a girl who is trying to free her, but I don't think she is going to be able to get her out in time," the teen explained obviously greatly distressed over the situation.

He looked back towards the car and all the blood drain from his face when his eyes rested on a familiar figure clad in a yellow and black shirt and pink hair who was swinging an object violently at the driver's side window...

"Max! Get away from the car," he cried out bolting in her direction knowing that the vehicle was mere seconds from blowing up.

She appeared not to have heard him as she continued banging on the glass trying to break up the window. Suddenly the door flew open unceremoniously throwing Max to the ground. Five seconds... The middle aged woman stumbled out of the car and rushed away from the car coughing violently. Four seconds... He had been several yards away from reaching her when the explosion happened. Three seconds... Their eyes met for a split second. He saw fear in her eyes followed by intense pain. He could see her lips whisper his name. Two seconds... And then he heard her scream of agony. The abrupt release of energy sent him flying back a distance causing him to fly through several trash cans causing him to go sprawling across the hard cold pavement. He groaned as he struggled to his hands and knees trying to keep conscious. He could hear the slow rhythmic beating of his heart as he tried shake the ringing in his ears.

"Max," he groaned, his vision blurry as he struggled to his feet looking around the wreckage for any sign of his best friend.

Their was fire and debris everywhere. People were screaming and crying in pure chaos as they attempted to assist saw several bystanders lying motionless on the ground at having been struck down by some shrapnel of the blast. The smoke was thick and suffocating and he used the side of his jacket to cover his mouth to prevent breathing passing out from smoke inhalation. Terry made his way through the throng of people choking on the heavy cloud of smoke as he called out for his friend.

It felt like he had been searching forever before he stumbled over something hard lying on the ground. His eyes widened in horror as he looked down and saw her small figure lying motionless on the ground in a pool of sticky red blood. Her body was singed and her clothing was scorcher leaving several parts of her body bared. For a moment he couldn't move. It felt like the world around him had stopped.

"Max!" His strangled cry twisted from his lips as he drop to his knees beside her praying that she was still alive. A crowd began to gather around her and he frantically yelled for someone to get help.

"Oh my God, is she ok?" he heard someone cry out worried.

He trembled in shock at her condition. There were cuts and scrapes on her arms and legs, and a nasty bruise was forming on her forehead. Her forearm had several different degrees of burns and the smell of charred flesh assaulted his nose intensely. Her eyes were closed tightly and when he checked her pulse, he found that she wasn't breathing. Not wasting anymore time he proceeded to giving her CPR. The small crowd began to grow bigger as people gathered around and watched stricken as he desperately tried to save his friend.

"Damn it, Max. Breathe," he pleaded pressing his lips against hers and blowing air into her lungs before making compressions on her chest.

Blake who lived in apartment near by pushed her way through the crowd and cried out in dismay at seeing the condition of her friend.

"Max," she cried dropping to her knees beside them sobbing hysterically.

Moments passed and Max had failed to gain consciousness. Blake stepped forward and placed a hand on Terry's shoulder gently.

He shrugged her away and continue to plead for the pink haired girl to wake up. Tears fell down his cheeks mingled with dark soot from the fire. He breathed air deep into her lungs and trembled as he fought to get her heart beating so she could breathe but all his gallant efforts were failing.

"Ter, stop," Blake whispered tearfully .

Terry snatched away from her with tears of anger in his eyes.

"I am not going to let her die!" he growled furiously.

He turned back towards his best friend who was still not moving.

"You're not going to die on me, Max. Not now. Not after everything we have been through," he choked furiously as he continued to give her CPR.

So many thoughts were going through his head as he fought to revive her. He wished he would have never left her behind. He wished he would have cared enough to make her get into the car and see her home safely. It was his fault she was dead. The pain was so intense he felt he was going to vomit.

"Terry, she's gone," Blake wept quietly behind him.

Terry stopped the compressions with a blank look in his tear filled eyes as he stared at Max lying motionless on the pavement. Gently he pulled her into his arms and stared down into her ashen face. She looked so peaceful that it seemed more like she was sleeping and not...

He couldn't bring himself to even think of her being dead. He couldn't think of the fact that he would never hear her voice or laugh with her. He couldn't think of the fact that he would never make things right with her. Choking back a angry sob he held her tightly to his chest and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Max. I am so sorry," he whispered thickly before he lowered his head and cried uncontrollably.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I am so very sorry for the delayed update. I have been through hell and back these past week and now I finally found the time to write. Here's an update and I assure you the next chapters will come at an rapid pace. Thanks for being patient with me.**

_"Max"_

_Max opened one eye slowly to find herself starring into a tiny tunnel of light. She groaned disoriented. She felt as if she had been sleeping forever. _

_Darkness. It surrounded her like a warm blanket leaving her feeling anxious._

_"Max.."_

_The sound of her name being chanted reminded her of the time her parents had taken her to Tibet where they visited a temple of praying monks. The chanting she heard as a child reminded her of the chanting she was hearing echo in the atmosphere around her._

_"Who's there? Where am I?" she called out weakly._

_There was soft whispering and then silence once more._

_Tears fell from the corner of her eyes like shimmering raindrops and fell into the dark abyss lingering beneath her. She was frightened and confused. She could sense that she was in a place far more intense then any place she had ever visit in her dreams. _

_Was this purgatory?_

_She was never a religious person but she had hoped that she had lived a decent life where she would be accepted into a place of peace. She opened her other eye and took a long look around. She spotted a pin prick of light lingering above her. She didn't know whether to be relieved or worried. She didn't have time to sought out her conflicting emotions as she felt herself drawing closer to the light. She smiled as she felt the warmth of the mysterious light bathe over her. Suddenly there was no pain. There was no fear. There was nothing. She closed her eyes and smiled relieved. She was finally in a place where she felt at peace. She felt..._

_"Don't get too comfortable, hun. You are not dead yet."_

_The loud feminine voice shattered the silence that had engulfed her. Her eyes snapped open as she looked around for the source of the voice. She saw no one. The tunnel of light disappeared and she let out a scream as she felt herself falling spiraling out of control into a realm unknown. Suddenly everything stopped and she opened her eyes startled. She sat up and was puzzled to find she was no longer floating in the mysterious dark realm but sitting on the couch of her apartment. Completely baffled, she stood up and looked around for any clue to what was happening to her. She was curious about the voice that had spoken to her and who it belonged to. She looked around, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the sudden burst of colors, taking notice that she appeared to be the only one present in the room. However she got the eerie feeling that she wasn't alone. _

_"God?" she whispered timidly._

_The voice giggled and Max frowned._

_While she wasn't too familiar with the divine entity she was fairly certain that God didn't 'giggle'._

_"W-who's there? Where am I?" she stammered flustered._

_"Am I dreaming?" she wondered amazed._

_"I'm not God, and let me assure you the absence of fire and brimstone is relatively a good sign." an amused voice said from behind her._

_She whirled around and gasped when she came face to face with herself, only her other self was older with longer hair and she was dressed in all black. The symbolism of the color connected with Death was not lost on Max._

_"You can call me Future Maxine. Calling me 'Neo' would be too dramatic, don't you think?" She smiled leaving Max confused._

_"B-but you're me," she said flabbergasted._

_The two girls circled each other starring at each other. Max was in complete disbelief, while Future Maxine merely smirked tolerantly._

_"Actually I'm not really you, per se. I'm kinda like the ghost of your future yet to come, and as you can see, you do eventually become completely fabulous," she cracked._

_Max starred at her dumbly._

_"I must have died if I'm talking to myself," she groaned feeling disoriented._

_Future Maxine laughed lightly._

_"No, I assure you that you are not dead. At least not at the moment anyways. In reality you have only stopped breathing for a second which allows me to present my case to you" she promised._

_Max shook her head in disbelief._

_"And that case would be...," Max asked dumbfounded._

_Future Maxine rolled her eyes exasperated as if the answer was obvious. However when Max continued to look confused, Future Maxine knew she would have to explain. _

_"Max, when people have near death experiences some live to tell about it, and others don't. Im here to decide which one you will be. Will I be able to convince you to go back to your life or am I going to have to escort you personally to the afterlife. I really don't prefer the latter because is going to mean there won't be a me and that kinda sucks," Future Maxine explained patiently._

_When Max's face still looked blank, Future Maxine knew she would need a visual aid to get her point across. Sighing she took Max by the hand and led her through the apartment towards a room that Max was all too familiar with. They stopped outside the door and Max felt her breath catch as she stood trembling outside of the room. _

_"You know this place. It's where you go when you you want to get away from all the stress," Future Maxine murmured before slowly opening the door._

_Almost as if she was in a daze, Max walked into the room which was dark and smelled of mothballs. Turning on the light switch she slowly made her way to the bed in the center of the room. It was made up and she personally knew that's it been awhile since it's been slept in. She gingerly lowered herself into the bed and felt tears spring to her eyes and she caught the faint smell of her mother's scent on one of the pillows. It was a mixture of the perfume White Jasmine and sandalwood, a rare perfume that had always been her mother's favorite. She would come lie in her parents bed whenever she wanted to feel safe or just to cry._

_"Come here. There is something you need to see for yourself," Future Maxine said softly standing across the room near a window where the lilac silk drapes were drawn back._

_Slowly, Max made her way over and stared curiously out the window of her parents bedroom and was stunned to find herself starring down at the accident scene. There was so much carnage, so much wreckage. People were rushing around frantically to check on those injured from the blast .Sirens were blaring loudly and fire roared in the air bathing her face in an orangish glow. She pressed her hand against the cool window pane as she caught a glimpse of Terry and Blade. Her heart sank into her stomach as she saw Blade sitting on the curb a few feet from where Terry was crying hysterically. As she looked closer she saw Terry cradling her body in his arms and above all the chaos and noise surrounding the wreck she could hear him sobbing her name. As her breathing grew shallow, fog filled the window making her view of the scene distorted and Max was slightly grateful for the blocked view. She clenched her hands into fists and turned away from the window abruptly. She couldn't watch anymore. She hated the guilt and the hurt she felt from watching Terry and Blade morn over her. The image was truly heart wrenching. Even though she was watching from afar she could still feel the intensity of his pain and grief. _

_"Terry is practically killing himself to revive you yet you stubbornly refuse to go back. Instead I notice you were kinda creeping towards the proverbial bright light which I highly would not suggest trying again unless you really want to be dead," she warned._

_Max shuddered on the verge of tears. She knew that her friends were hurting now, but they would get over her. She knew Terry wouldn't mourn her forever and that her death wouldn't impact the rest of his life. He was strong. Stronger then anyone she knew. He would move on._

_"You're wrong. It would impact the rest of his life," Future Maxine said ominously._

_Max looked up sharply._

_"What are you? A mind reader too? What if I don't want to go back? What if I just want to stay here?" she retorted, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly._

_"As much as you don't want to accept it, Terry needs you, girl. He lost his father. How do you think he's going to take losing you?" Future Maxine asked gently._

_Max looked away guilty._

_"When his father died, Terry gained a purpose and that purpose was being batman," she said softly, "He doesn't need me."_

_Future Maxine sat next to her silently._

_"If you truly believe that then why do you even call yourself his best friend? Why is it so important to you that he doesn't abandon you if he really doesn't need you?" she asked quietly._

_Her words stung, but they had a ring of truth to them. The truth was Terry needed her, but she refuse to believe that it was the type of need that she felt for him. He needed her to cover for him. He needed her to help keep him stay caught up in his classes. He needed her to keep his secret. The need she felt for him was entirely different. She need him as a companion. She needed him to keep her loneliness at bay._

_"I care for Ter. He just doesn't know how much," Max whispered fighting to hold back the tears that were threatening to flood from her eyes. _

_"Max, you are smarter then this. Think about it. One single moment can change an entire lifetime. Your death is that single moment," Future Maxine urged._

_When Max remained silent, Future Maxine decided to try a new and different approach._

_"Fine, you don't want to go back for Terry. What about those little girls you saved? They are not completely out of danger. That man who tried to prevent you from getting to their mother is still out there. Terry isn't the only one that needs you. That woman and those girls need you," she said insisted._

_"It's not my problem. I helped and looked where it's gotten me," she snapped. _

_Max turned away from her. It had occurred to her that the family she had saved had been in some kind of danger outside of being in the crash, but she felt helpless to do anything about it at the moment._

_Future Maxine shook her head disappointed, her face serious._

_"You can either go back or you can let go. It's your choice, but you must make the right one. If you don't it will cause a greater effect in the world then you could ever imagine." _

_Max looked away unresponsive._

_Future Maxine sighed softly._

_"I didn't want to have to do this, but you really left me no choice," she warned._

_Before Max could wonder what Maxine meant she was submerged in a white blinding light and she felt herself become weightless._

**Author's Note: This chapter might have been a little confusing, but "Maxine" is the ghost of future Max's, if that makes any sense lol. Max is herself trapped in her own mind. Kind of like the ghost of Christmas eve type deal so bear with me lol**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: same as usual. sorry about the delay and I have find my inspiration so thank you for bearing with me. It should be smooth sailing from here on out**

_"__She was a caring sister, a loving daughter, and a friend to many of you gathered here today..."_

Max opened her eyes and was puzzled to find that she was sitting in the back of an unfamiliar large cathedral. Looking up she felt the warmth of the sun bathe over her face as it poured through the color stained windows with the image of the Virgin Mary. She turned to her left to find Future Maxine sitting beside her on the pew with a somber expression on her face. Looking around the church, she noticed that, with the exception of the first two pews filled with her family and classmates she had, no clue who the other people were.

"Where are we? Why am I here?" she demanded.

"Shh, I wanna hear the good things they are saying about me," Future Maxine shushed.

_"Maxine was a bright young woman who inspired happiness wherever she went. She was one of Gotham High's brightest pupils, she was a breath of fresh air and she will be missed dearly by those who had the pleasure of knowing her."_

As the choir rose and began to sing a depressing and rather morbid hymn, Max felt her blood run cold.

"Why are they speaking about me in past tense?" she hissed glaring at her future self.

Future Maxine stared at her seriously.

"We are at your going away party. Everyone here is wearing black because it's the new 'pink'," Future Maxine mocked.

Judging from the expression on Max's face Future Maxine realized her sarcasm was not appreciated and she sighed softly.

"This is a funeral. See all the sad faces and that big ol' shiny mahogany casket in front of the church. You are their guest of honor," she informed flatly.

Max eyes widened in horror.

"This is my funeral? This not sway. This is creepy! I thought you said I wasn't dead," Max cried.

"You aren't. At least not yet. I thought it would be best to show you a glimpse of the future without you before you made your decision," she explained.

Max opened her mouth to protest when the singing suddenly stopped and the priest began to speak again.

"We will now hear an eulogy from someone who knew Max the best. Terry McGuinnss," the priest said gently as he stepped aside.

Max held her breath as Terry made his way from the front pew up to the pulpit. He stood quietly facing the congregation in his all black suit. His hair was combed and he looked neat but the dark circles under his eyes along with the paleness of his skin told Max that he hadn't been sleeping well.

"Maxine and I were more then just 'friends.' I couldn't even began to explain how special and unique our relationship was, even if I wanted too," he smiled slightly.

"I spent the past week thinking about what I wanted to say in memory of her, but then I thought it would be best to speak on what kind of person she was at heart. Max was the type of girl that could easily be friends with anyone. She was loyal, she was dependable, and more then anything she was trust worthy. She had the gift of being a good friend to a person no matter how hard and how much you tried to push her away. The one thing about her that I use to be truly frustrated by was her stubborn ways. There were times she would just not give in and in retrospect I admire that. She was a woman of convictions. She was someone who stood her ground no matter how many times it would get her into trouble," he stopped abruptly.

He paused taking a moment to collect himself.

"I want to be able to say that she wasn't lonely, and that she always felt loved and cherished, but that isn't true. I think one of the things that made Max so caring and kind is the fact she lacked that in her life. She gave her love and friendship because she sought to have the same returned. I know that I am guilty for taking her for granted. I always thought that she would be here and that we would be in each other's lives forever, but I was wrong. If I could go back and do things differently, I would let her know how much I cared. How much she truly meant to me." His voice had nearly died down to a whisper and people in the pews had to lean forward to hear.

"I...I love you Max. You will be missed," he said hoarsely before stepping off the pulpit and rushing out of the church in tears.

Max stood up and followed him out of the church and found him standing near the grave yard beside Bruce.

"Terry," Bruce started.

"Wayne, I know what you are going to say. I should have stayed for the rest of the memorial service, but I couldn't. I couldn't stomach having to listen to any of those people talk about Max like they knew her, when most of them didn't," he said coldly.

"McGuiness, I know you are angry," Bruce tried again.

"Yes, I am angry! Her parents and her sister are sitting in their grieving over a daughter and a sister that the willingly abandoned! If that isn't bad enough Max never knew half of those people sitting in that church and the people claiming to know are just taking advantage of the fact she died a hero and they are just getting their minutes of fame as being "a friend to the dead girl who was a hero." It's sickening!" he snapped seething.

Bruce placed a hand on the teenage boy's shoulder comfortly. He knew all too well the type of grief that was eating Terry up inside. He had felt in many of times over the loss of people he had loved in his lifetime.

Terry blinked back tears of anguish.

"Nobody in that church can say they knew her like I did," Terry whispered, "There were days Max would come to school and even though she would smile and act like everything was always fine, I could always see through it. She could always fool others, but she could never fool me. I could always sense when something was wrong."

Max felt her heart skip a beat. All the time she thought she had been doing a stellar job of fooling everyone, Terry had actually been the one person that had seen through her and she never knew it.

"I know I should accept that she is dead, but I can't! I keep trying to pretend that she is still here! I keep finding myself wanting to fly through her window after patrols to talk, or I keep picking up the phone to dial her number to see if she wants to go to the arcade to hang out. It's stupid, I know that, but I can't face the fact that she's...," he broke off emotionally.

_**"**__Oh, Ter," _Max whispered trying not to cry.

"Terry, listen to me. Max's death is not your fault. I understand you need time to grieve. I'll handle patrols and give you time to heal," Bruce said softly.

Terry shook his head.

"_You_ can have the suit, and _you _can be this city's savior. I refuse to wear the damn thing," Terry whispered emotionally.

Bruce frowned.

"Terry, I know that you are hurt and angry right now. You have every right to be. You lost someone you cared deeply for, but you are too emotional to make any decision regarding the suit," he started.

Terry stared at him tensely.

"No amount of time is going to erase the fact that I lost my best friend. I don't want anything to do with being Batman anymore. I will just be living a lie," he growled through clenched teeth.

Ace whined softly nuzzling his nose in Bruce's hand. The atmosphere was filled with overwhelming sadness, and the canine could sense it.

"You think Max would have wanted you to give up being Batman? Do you think that she would want her death to be in vain?" Bruce asked gently.

Terry laughed harshly and combed his trembling fingers through his unruly jet black hair.

"No. She would have probably yelled at me and told me I was being an idiot. However, I can't bring myself to wear that suit. Wayne, if I can't protect the one person that meant the most to me, then I cannot protect anyone. I couldn't stop my father from dying. I realize that, but this is different. I could have saved her, Wayne, and I didn't. If I wouldn't have left her alone to walk home she wouldn't be dead. If I would have gotten to her before the car exploded, she wouldn't be dead! Say what you want, but she is dead because I wasn't there. I wasn't there to protect her and that's the truth that I am going to live with for the rest of my life," he choked.

"I won't let anyone else I love die while wearing that suit. I can't. I'm sorry. I am grateful for everything that you have done for me, but I just can't. I'm done," he apologized quietly, placing the brown book bag into the elderly man's hands and walking away.

Max stared after him shocked. She couldn't believe that Terry would just walk away from the suit! He couldn't quit being Batman! It was absurd! Gotham needed him! Innocent people needed him.

Max turned to her future self panicked.

"This can't happen. Terry can't stop being Batman just because I'm dead. Why is he doing this?" she demanded.

"When you died...a part of him died. It was the part that fought and believed in justice, the part that always believed that he could save the world one day at a time. With you gone, he has nothing to believe in_. _His hope was shattered, Max. A man without hope is broken, and that's what Terry is. He's broken," Future Maxine started quietly, "You didn't think you had an effect on Terry, but you did. He loves you, he just doesn't know it yet. He's been too blinded with everything else to realize it."

Max wandered through the graveyard searching for Terry with her arms wrapped around her petite frame trying to ward of the creepy chills dancing down her spine. She found Terry kneeling in front of her empty grave with a look of sorrow on his face.

"God, Max, I wish that you were here. I miss you so much," he said hoarsely.

Max felt tears slid down her cheeks

"It wasn't your fault, Ter. You can't blame yourself."

She wanted nothing more then to reach out and hug him and tell him that, and it hurt her that she couldn't.

"I know you would be disappointed that I gave up the suit, and it isn't something I'm proud of, but this city deserves a better protector. It deserves someone capable and dependable. You deserved the same and I let you down. You trusted me to protect you, and I failed. Everyone says it wasn't my fault, but they are all wrong. I just need to get away from Gotham for awhile. I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. I don't know how long I will be gone. I'm not sure that I ever want to come back after everything that happened, but I just wanted to say goodbye just in case," he murmured. He placed a red rose on her tombstone, and gave it one last lingering glance before walking away.

"Wait, you can't leave!" Max stammered taken back.

When he kept walking she began to panic.

"What about your mother and Matt? What about Dana?" she cried after him.

The sky, that had been filled with sunshine earlier, clouded over eerily. Seconds later rain began to fall down around the graveyard and Max watched stricken as Terry began to walk further away from her heading towards a bleak and unpromising horizon with his head lowered. No matter how loud she screamed his name, he didn't turn around.

Desperate she turned to her future self.

"I have to go back!" she said desperately.

Future Maxine looked unconvinced.

"Are you sure? If you go back," she started.

Max cut her off with a piercing glare.

"If I don't go back, Terry will abandon the suit and people need him to be the dark knight of the city. He is the only hope this city has. The city is lost without Batman. He can't just walk away. He'll end up hating himself forever! Am I making myself clear?" Max snapped near hysteria. She knew she had to go back or Terry would make a decision he would regret forever and she couldn't let that happen.

"Crystal clear," Future Maxine smiled ominously.


	7. Chapter 7

**The present...**

"Clear!"

Terry watched Max's body jerk violently as several watts of electricity surged through her limp body. The paramedic closest to her pressed two fingers against the side of Max's neck and shook her head.

"We have to shock her again," the other medic said firmly.

The two paramedics had arrived a few minutes ago and had been using charge paddles trying to restart Max's heart, but so far they were having no success. They had been at it for over two minutes and from the bleak look on their faces, Terry could tell that they were close to giving up hope of reviving her. He turned away unable to watch any longer. It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion. He looked down at his hands and fought back tears as he realized they were smeared with her blood. The blood of his best friend. Blood that should have never been spilt in the first place. Blood that was going to taint his conscience for the rest of his life.

"Time of death..."

He closed his eyes not wanting to watch them pronounce her dead. He could feel fresh tears began to pour down his face as his body shook with silent sobs. It wasn't fair! It should have been him in her place! She didn't deserve to die, and he wasn't ready to let her go. Not yet...

"No!" he snarled storming back to where she was lying.

He dropped to his knees by her side and grabbed her into his arms shaking her firmly.

"You _have _to wake up, Max! You can't die. Not here, not like this, slagit! " he hissed as tears flowed from the corner of his eyes, "I'm not ready to let go."

He knew it was pointless, but he felt like he had no control. Raw pain was driving him to be irrational in his grief. He knew that shaking her and demanding that she wake up wasn't going to work no matter how hard he wished that it would. He stopped shaking her and cradled her in his arms tightly.

"Ter..."

At first he thought he had imagined hearing his name from her lips when it was instantly followed by a soft audible moan. Blinking back tears he lifted his head to see Max's chest slowly rising and falling, a sure sign that she was breathing again. Terry felt as if his heart would explode from joy as he hugged her tightly to his chest overwhelmed with relief. He barely had time to absorb her gaining consciousness when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir, if you can stand back, we need to check her vitals," one of the paramedics said gently.

Terry obeyed and watched wide eyed as they checked Max over. She was breathing, but her eyes remained shut, and she hadn't moved.

"Come on, Max. Open your eyes," he pleaded silently.

Seconds later her eyes fluttered open and she looked around dazed and disoriented.

"Where am I?" she groaned distressed.

"This is a really good sign," the brunette smiled before taking a small light and shining it into Max's eyes," What's your name, honey?"

Max moaned softly.

"M-max," she said quietly, completely out of it.

"Her pupils are equal and responsive. Let's get her to the hospital quickly. She inhaled a lot of smoke and it appears that she may have suffered an concussion."

He couldn't believe it! She was alive! He laughed tearfully as he watched her turn her head in his direction.

"Ter," his name escaped from her cracked lips almost like a desperate plea.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortly.

"You scared the living hell out of me," he growled.

"W-what happened?" she moaned moving slightly.

"Shh, don't talk. Save your energy. You were in a bad accident," he murmured.

"Terry, I'm scared," she whimpered.

"Hey, don't be. You're going to be fine. I'm right here," he assured smoothing her hair back.

"You came back," she started hoarsely, "You were leaving, but...you came back."

"I am _never _leaving you again, do you hear me?" he whispered holding her hand.

As the two paramedics quickly placed her on a Gurney wheeling her to the ambulance with urgency, he started to follow when the brunette with green eyes stopped him abruptly.

"I am sorry sir. Family members only," she said apologetically before directing her attention back to Max.

"Maxine, my name is Kerry and this is Monica," she paused to point at the other paramedic who was busy hooking an IV into her arm," We are going to be taking care of you. I need to ask you some questions. Is there anyone we can call to come be with you in the hospital? Your parents?" she asked gently.

"Terry," she said softly.

"Do you have a number for him that I can call?" she asked scribbling down on the clipboard.

Terry stepped forward.

"No need, I'm Terry," he said.

The paramedic sighted relenting.

"Fine, you can accompany her to the hospital but we are going to need an adult to sign consent for her treatment seeing how she's only a minor. Is there any way that you can get into contact with her parents?" she asked.

Terry shook his head.

"They are out of the country. I don't know exactly where and neither does Max," he said.

"Well with no legal guardianship or proof of insurance we will have to take her to the county hospital I'm afraid," she said softly.

Terry fought back his rage. He knew for a fact that the county clinic was a run down shack infested by drugged up jokers and some of the worse scum of Gotham. He knew Max wouldn't get the proper treatment she needed there. The most she would get was probably some pain medication and sent home. He would be damned if he was going to sit back and let that happen.

"Wait, just give me a minute," he said hastily before taking out his cell with a trembling hand and walking off to the side.

After the third ring, the elderly man answered.

"Ter," he started.

"Wayne...I need you to come down to the hospital. It's Max," he said quietly.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

"Ter...what happened? Is she okay?" he asked very softly.

"She was caught in the explosion with the cars and she's banged up pretty badly, but I think she's going to make it. Her folks are out of town and the paramedics says she needs someone who isn't a minor to sign consent for her to be seen and since her parents are out of town or they are going to transfer her to the community hospital, and you know how rundown that facility is," he rambled distraught.

"Say no more, McGuiness. I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me talk to one of the paramedics," he said gruffly.

Terry walked back over to the ambulance where he handed Monica the phone.

"Hello?" she spoke curtly.

There was a long pause.

"Sir, I understand, but hospital policy...ok...yes I understand. As you wish Mr. Wayne," the woman stammered before the line went dead ominously.

Forcing a smile she handed the phone back to Terry.

"At the request of Mr. Wayne your friend will be taken to Gotham City's Hospital and receive the finest care. I was also instructed to make sure that you accompany us there," she said obviously shaken from the conversation she had with the billionaire.

Terry smiled politely.

"Thank you," he said stiffly before hopping into the back of the ambulance with the brunette paramedic and Max.

"The mother...did she get out the car in time? Is she and the little girls ok?" Max asked hoarsely as the ambulance raced towards the hospital moments later.

Kerry smiled down at her warmly.

"Yes, they are in the ambulance behind us. That family is very lucky that you were near by when you were. You saved their lives. It was a very heroic thing that you did," she said her voice filled with admiration.

Max's frown deepened. It seemed as if she was struggling to remember something but was having a difficult time. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"What's the matter?" he asked worried.

She looked up at him distraught.

"There was a man...I think he may have intentionally caused the accident. He tried to stop me from getting to the car. We have to let the police know," she tried.

The paramedic smiled.

"We'll have the police take your statement after you get to the hospital. For now just relax so that we can work on getting you better," she assured.

"But that woman and her daughters may still be in danger," Max started.

Terry smiled softly.

"Stop talking and get your rest so that you can get better. It'll get taken care of. You already done enough," he smiled.

"Promise me you'll make sure that they are going to be okay," she pleaded softly starring into his gentle blue eyes.

Terry was about to respond when they felt the ambulance slam hard into something causing Terry and Kerry to fly forward roughly. Max grabbed hold of Terry sleeve to prevent him from slamming into the door. Terry lost his balanced and crashed down towards Max. His face landed inches away from hers and he could see the surprise in her eyes as he caught him self at the last second to keep from landing on top of her. Breathing heavily he started to move when she stopped him by gingerly reaching up and grabbing his collar holding him place.

He didn't know if it was from the surge of emotions he had felt earlier when he had thought, or whether he was just happy that she was alive, but apart of him felt the urge to kiss her beautiful full lips. He was stunned that he felt no guilt for that particular thought, considering he was dating Dana. Somehow he figured he would feel guilty if he felt it was wrong, and at the moment it didn't feel wrong. Nothing felt more right. Even covered in soot, scrapes, bruises and blood, she looked beautiful to him. Starring down at her he realized that there was so much that he wanted to say to her. There was so much about their friendship that had gone unspoken for far too long.

She looked up at him, her dark eyes shining beneath her thick long black eyelashes. She licked her lips nervously and he could feel her heartbeat quicken against his chest. Suddenly she let his shirt go.

"Maybe you should go check on the paramedics," she laughed uneasily, breaking the spell that had fallen between them.

Terry blushed and scrambled off of her. His face was burning scarlet red, but he quickly pushed aside what had just happened and focused on checking on the paramedics. He found Kerry lying unconscious with a deep gash on her forehead and Monica was knocked out behind the wheel. Terry was going to investigate the source of the crash when the sound of screaming cause him to freeze. Starring out of the window in the back of the ambulance, he saw three men exiting a car parked on the other side of the roof. Two of the men were making their way over to the second ambulance containing the family Max had rescued, and the third one was heading towards their ambulance. It was becoming more obvious with each passing second that the crash had been intentional and even though he wasn't clear on what that intent had been, he knew he had to brace himself for trouble. Gritting his teeth, he tensed as he wracked his mind for a plan. He knew if he didn't get into the batsuit, this time Max would die and this time he would protect her, no matter the cost.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Thanks for bearing with me.**

"Terry, what is it? What's happening?" Max asked frightened as she tried to sit up in the Gurney.

Terry placed his hand on her shoulder and held her down gently with a warning look in his blue eyes. Max opened her mouth to protest, but one steely glare from Terry made her fall silent.

"Don't move. You can have broken ribs and moving will only make your condition worse," he warned.

Max tried to hide her frustration as he remained silent while keeping vigil out the back window towards the dangerous men. She knew she was pretty banged up and not in any condition to attempt to play sidekick, but she hated being thought as of a victim and feeling helpless. After a few seconds went by, she shifted restless.

"Terry, what's going on?" she insisted impatiently.

Terry stared down at her sternly hoping that his stare would make her back down once more, but when he failed he sighed relenting.

"Remember that guy you were talking about that may have caused the crash?" he asked quietly, quickly taking off his jacket, still keeping a careful eye out of the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"It looks like he and his goons came back to finish off the job," he informed.

Max watched as he shoved his jacket shoving into his brown back pack before pulling out the suit. When it dawned on her of what he was about to do, her jaws dropped open in disbelief.

"Ter, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind! You can't change here. What if someone see's you?" she hissed.

Terry frowned.

"I don't like this anymore then you do Max, but what choice do I have? If I have to jeopardize my identity to protect you then that's a risk that I am more then willing to take," he said firmly sliding the cowl over his head.

His words caused her to flush lightly. The fact that he was willing to risk everything to protect her meant a lot to her, but she couldn't let him go through with it. Too much was at stake.

"Terry you can't compromise your identity," she started.

"Max, I'm doing this and this discussion is over," he said in an no nonsense tone of voice.

The pink haired girl sighed exasperated. Terry's stubborn streak really grated her last nerves sometimes.

"Fine, what will I tell the paramedics when they regain consciousness and see that you are gone?" she asked logically.

Max was surprised when he grinned.

"I don't know, Max. You are my sidekick. Aren't you the one who always come up with a perfect excuse for my disappearance?" he teased easing some of the tension and worry in her face.

She smirked.

_"He is so not sway for that," _ She mused silently.

"Oh so now I'm your sidekick. You're not slick Ter," she said amused.

Terry rolled his eyes good naturally.

"Just say I snuck away to get help. The paramedics should be so out of it when they gain consciousness that it'll make enough sense," he suggested moving to leave the vehicle.

He was surprised when Max reached out and grabbed his hand preventing him from leaving. He could see there was fear and worry written all over her face smeared with scratches and soot from the fire.

Be careful," she said softly.

He smiled and knelt down next to her squeezing her hand comfortly. He could have said anything to try to ease her apprehension but he refrained. His silence spoke volumes and judging from the half smile she afforded him, she knew that everything was going to be ok.

"Trust me, Max. I swear I won't let nothing else happen to you."

Those had been Terry's parting words before he had disappeared quietly out of the ambulance from the passenger side. She trusted him. She had seen the stubborn determination in his blue eyes, and she knew that he would keep his promise at all cost. She could see how much he had been effected by her close encounter with death. The guilt practically dripped from his voice and it made her heart break. She knew that he wasn't responsible for what had happened to her, but she could try to tell him that until she was blue in the face and she knew Terry wouldn't listen. If only she could make him see...

Max's thoughts were interrupted as footsteps pounded against the rooftop drawing closer to the ambulance in which she was contained. Even though she knew Terry hadn't gone too far, she was still frightened. Pinned down to a Gurney with an IV stuck in her arm, there was little she could do to protect herself. Despite this fact she clenched her fist tightly, prepared to fight if need be.

Suddenly the ambulance door was yanked open and Max hissed softly as she came face to face with the very man who had tried to stop her from helping the family back at the crash accident.

"You should have taken my advice," he said maliciously.

Max smirked.

"It's obvious that you didn't take my advice when I told you to go to hell, so we are even," she said evenly.

"You have a big mouth, kid. I am going to take pleasure in shutting it permanently," he snarled reaching for his gun.

Suddenly a flash of red and black metal in the shape of a bat tore through the air slashing the thugs hand causing him to cry out in pain and drop the gun. The gun went sliding several yards away from the perpetrator.

"I would think twice about that if I were you," a cold voice warned hidden in the darkness of the night.

The man whirled around startled.

"Hey, who said that?" he demanded, turning his focus away from Max and inching towards his weapon slowly.

"Your worse nightmare," Batman growled jumping off the top of the ambulance and kicking the armed man square in the jaw causing him to fall on the pavement groaning in pain.

"Batman," he cried, whirling on his heels and running in the opposite direction.

Batman effortlessly caught the man by the collar and lifted him in the air.

"I was in the area," he smirked lifting his fist to knock the thugs lights out.

He froze when he heard the sound of a gun cocked and an helpless little whimper. Looking up he saw one man had his gun trained on him while the other had one of the young girls in a vice like grip. Seething he tightened his grip on the creeps shirt.

"Tell your men to let the little girl," he snapped.

"Why don't you cool your jets, Batman. We are all reasonable people here," he said coolly.

"Let the little girl go and I might reconsider not rearranging your face, creep," Batman snarled.

The man laughed coldly.

"You are in no condition to be making threats, Batman. We all have something we want and I propose a little deal," he started.

"The only deal you are going to be making is with the D.A.," he said hotly.

"Let him go, or the girl will find out the hard way that she can't fly," he said impatiently holding the sobbing little girl over the edge of the tall building dangerously.

The young girl screamed in terror.

As much as Batman wanted to pulverize the thug he had a hold on, he knew he couldn't jeopardize an innocent civilians life so reluctantly he let the creep go. The thug groaned as he landed roughly on the ground, nursing his injured bloody hand.

There was a long tense silence which was broken when the mother appeared out of the ambulance with a look of despair and intense fear on her pale weary face.

"Please, I'll do what you want...just don't harm my little girl," she begged desperately, on the edge of hysteria.

"You got what you want, now put the girl down," Batman warned through clenched teeth, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

The man finally spoke after a n ugly sneer crept across his lips.

"As you wish," he smirked before letting her go over the edge.

Batman's eyes widened in horror as he watched the girl plunge over the edge. He knew that he had no other choice but to go after the falling girl, but he didn't want to leave Max on the roof alone afraid of what would happen to her.

_Slagit!_

Muttering a curse he made his decision reluctantly. Running over to the ledge where she had been thrown over, he used momentum and leaped over the edge and used the rocket propellers in his boots to close the distance between him and the girl who was tumbling towards the ground at a frightening pace. He boosted his boots rockets once more and reached out and grabbed the girl securely under one arm. The girl wrapped her arms around his neck crying hysterically as he soared back towards the roof.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I got you," he coaxed, in an effort to calm her fear.

When he arrived back on the roof, he barely had time to access the situation when he heard a noise.

His heart froze when he heard a soft groan come from Max's ambulance.

"Max," he cried placing the little girl down before bolting towards the ambulance. His heart hammered loudly in his chest as he silently hoped that she was okay. He was stunned to find Max sitting up holding a miniature oxygen tank in her hand and one of the men lying knocked out cold on the pavement.

He looked at her in disbelief.

"I thought I told you not to move," he said sternly, narrowing his eyes at her.

She shrugged nonchalantly, grimacing in pain.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. He insisted on trying to 'tie up loose ends' and I kind of felt that it was necessary to "move" so this moron wouldn't kill me," she said wryly.

Batman bit back the urge to reprimand Max on her actions. After all she did have a point.

"Mommy!"

Max and Batman's heads jerk towards the sound of the young girls crying. Batman rushed over to where the two girls were clinging tightly to each other.

"What is it? What's wrong? he asked gently.

One of the girls looked up at him with her lips quivering dangerously and her eyes filled with wet tears.

"They took my mommy! She's gone!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	9. Chapter 9

**Rebirth**

**AN: Sorry about the delay! Review please...**

_  
"She's gone! They took my mother!"_

Those six words echoed in Terry's head repeatedly as he raced through the doors of the hospital that Max had been rushed through on a stretcher several minutes ago. The terror that had been in those little girls eyes had shaken him to the core of his soul. He knew how devastating it was to lose a parent and he swore that he wouldn't let that happen to the sisters. He knew he had the responsibility as the protector of Gotham to go after the creeps that had taken the girl's mother and rescue her, but he had something he had to do first. He had to make sure that Maxine was going to be okay.

Narrowing his eyes, he began to question every doctor and medical personnel on the where a bouts of his missing pink haired friend. Stopping at one of the nurse's station he looked down at the nurse sitting behind the computer with urgency all across his handsome face.

"Hi. I'm looking for my friend Maxine Gibbs. She was bought in just a couple of minutes ago," he said hastily.

Before the nurse could answer, a loud female voice could be heard echoing down the halls.

"Can you please stop shining that extremely bright light in my eyes? It's not making my headache any better and who do I need to see around here about getting some decent clothes so I can blow this joint?"

Terry grinned shaking his head in amusement.

"Never mind. I think I just found her," he said wryly before rushing off down the hall towards the room he had heard Max's shrill voice emerge from.

Arriving in the room he saw two nurses attempting to hold the feisty banged up pink haired girl down while vainly trying to talk some sense into her. Seeing Terry standing in the threshold caused one of the nurses to glare at him agitated.

"Can you give us a minute, kid? We are still trying to get your friend...situated," she growled still trying to wrestle Max back down into the bed.

Terry tried not to snicker, but failed miserably causing Max to send him a death glare. He quickly wiped the smile from his face and cleared his throat before addressing the nurses.

"Let me try to talk some sense into her. She tends to listen to me," he reassured ignoring the snort of disbelief that came from Max.

Once the frustrated nurses had disappeared from the room, Terry gently grabbed Max's wrists, forcing her to halt her escape.

"Max, you need to listen to the doctors. You are pretty banged up and need to rest. Stop being so damn stubborn for a change," he growled as he tenderly grazed her bruises with the tip of his fingertips.

She shuddered and pulled away from his touch smiling nervously. The incident of what had almost occurred in the ambulance before the crash made her heart flip flop in her chest. She could still remember the excitement and the fear she had felt when his lips had nearly grazed hers. There had been a brief split second before the crash when their eyes had locked. He had stared at her in a way that he never had before.

_"Kind of like the way he is looking at me now," _Max thought to her self stunned as Terry's eyes bore into hers intensely.

"I'm fine, Terry. You and I both already know that," she tried laughing nervously as she pulled away from his touch shyly.

He shook his head not fooled by her reassurance.

"Listen to me closely, Max. You nearly got killed and you need to rest and let those injuries heal. If it takes me personally holding you down, then I will," he growled, his face inches from hers.

Max bared her teeth in defiance, suddenly annoyed. He was doing that _thing _again where he felt that he always had to take charge of a situation and tell her what to do. Well not this time.

"No, you listen to me. There is nothing that is going to keep me in this bed while those creeps are still out there," she started.

Not realizing she spoke too soon, the door open to the room and Terry and Max both were surprised when Mary McGuiness marched in with Matt not too far behind her.

"Maxine, I'm so glad that you are alright. I came as soon as I got the call from the paramedic. Is there anything I can get you?" Mary McGuiness cooed as she went to tending to Max as if she was her own daughter.

The pink haired girl blushed deeply.

"I'm fine, Mrs. McGuiness. What are you doing here?" she started.

"You are not fine and I am here because your parents are not in town and I insist that you come stay with me until you are healed completely," Mary said firmly.

Max smiled weakly.

"I appreciate the offer, but," she tried.

Mary shook her head with a look in her eye that let Max know that the older woman meant business.

"There will be no arguing about it. I'm going to be right outside of the room talking to the doctors. If you need anything have Ter come grab me, ok, sweetie?" Mary smiled before disappearing from the room.

"Looks like the one thing that is going to keep you in this bed is my mother. Good luck trying to get past her," he grinned victoriously.

Max's face fell in disappointment. Her situation was looking bleaker by the moment, she knew that there was no way she could talk Mrs. McGuiness down seeing how Terry had inherited his stubbornness directly from her fiery gene pool.

"It's not that I don't appreciate everything that your mother wants to do for me, but I just can't kick my feet up and relax while those girls mother is gone and I'm the only person that have and trust in, Ter. I can't just abandon them," she whispered distraught.

Terry sighed and carefully sat beside Max in the bed.

"Max, let me handle this. I get that you feel the need to help, but you don't have to worry about anything anymore. I'll look after the girls and beside, those men are going to come looking for them and I don't want you to get caught up in what is already a very dangerous situation," he tried reasoning with her.

"You don't get it do you, Ter? I made a promise to those two girls in the ambulance that I would look out for them until their mother comes back. I'm not going to break my word to them. They have already been through too much. I know better then anyone how it feels to be stuck in the most frightening situation of your life completely alone," she exploded tearfully.

Terry's hardened expression softened as he saw the pain and anguish flitter across Max's dark tear filled eyes. He could tell she was just now dealing with the emotional injury that she suffered during the explosion. It was one of the only times that he had every seen her truly vulnerable and what he saw made him want to wrap his arms around her and hold her until the confident and tough Max reappear.

"Listen. You have me, Max, and you have Matt and my mom. We may not be blood relatives, but you are my best friend and I....we care about you. I don't want you to ever feel like your alone because your not," he vowed unconsciously reaching out and cupping her tear streaked face inside the palms of his hands.

"Thanks, Ter. You have no idea how much that means to me," she murmured before looking at him innocently, "I just want to show those two girls the same compassion that you are showing me."

Terry groaned as he realized during the few seconds he was being sympathetic towards Max, she had manage to win her argument by using a rare mixture of tears and perfect manipulation.

"That's low, Max, but you have a point. You can keep an eye on the girls, but I'm putting all three of you in protective custody and that's not negotiable," he said before adding, "You have to promise me first that you will leave tracking down these guys to me.'

Max grinned satisfied that she had done the unimaginable and finally got her way with Terry. Not wanting to press her luck she bit back her joy and proceeded in getting out of bed unhooking her self from the medical machines.

"Cool, whatever. I promise to let you do your hero thing. So where exactly is this safe house where we are going to be laying low at for the next few days?" she asked eagerly.

Terry's answer instantly wiped the smile from Max's face and deflated the joy she had been feeling earlier from her heart.

"Wayne's Manor."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Sorry for the huge delay. I promise I will finish this story before the end of summer. Reviews are appreciated =)

_"How in the world did I let Terry talk me into this?" _ Max wondered as she sat in the mansion's library feeling restless.

It had been three days since she had been released from the hospital and while she appreciated Bruce Wayne's hospitality, she was quickly growing frustrated at having to sit on the sidelines slowly healing instead of helping Terry find the missing doctor. If there was one thing that drove the pink haired girl absolutely insane, it was laying around while all the action in Gotham was taking place with out her. She knew that she belonged at her apartment providing back ground intel to Terry who was working as Batman out in the field instead of hanging out in a library that was big and dark and starting to give her the creeps. Sighing softly, she silently mused over the fact that no matter how hard she had pleaded with Terry to let her help him with the investigation, he had adamantly refused, insisting that she needed to focus all of her attention on getting better.

Taking a break from wallowing in her misery, Max decided to go check in on the two little girls who had been put down for a nap an hour and a half ago. Grabbing her crutches, she moaned softly as her left leg began to throb painfully as she attempted to move it. She knew that it was fractured pretty badly, and that she would have to take it easy in order for it to heal properly. Moving gingerly, she placed the crutches underneath her arm pits before making her way towards the door. As she went to exit the library, the sound of giggling blew in with the breeze that came from a window of the south end of the library causing her to falter in her steps.

Curiously, the pink haired girl gingerly made her way towards the window and stared down at the long stretch of land filled with plush green grass searching for the source of the laughter. There were a variety of exotic beautiful plants and flowers in one section of the huge back yard and on the other side were beautifully carved marble sculptures. As her gaze fell near the large grand fountain in the middle of the yard, she smiled amused as she watched the two twin sisters played with Ace's who was chasing a ball back and forth, while Bruce sat at a distance watching the playful activity with a rare smile on his wrinkled face. For the first time since the accident, Max felt as if she was actually able to stop and just relax without the fear of anything bad happening.

Slowly moving away from the windows, she made her way over to the leather chair in the corner and cautiously lowered herself down onto the piece of furniture. After taking some pills for her pain, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes feeling slightly drowsy. She was internally debating whether or not to take a light cat nap, when she heard the door to the library. Looking up, she grinned eagerly as she watched Terry breeze into the room with arms loaded with bags of food.

"Hey, Max. How are you feeling today?" he asked curiously as he placed the bags on a nearby table.

As he laid out several boxes of delicious Chinese food in front of her, Max felt her stomach growl in anticipation. For the past couple of hours, the only thing she had been capable of holding down was water and soup.

"I feel much better now that you have bought me some food I can actually enjoy," she said, her voice filled with relief.

"I bought your favorite from Mr. Kimshi's restaurant. Bruce warned us both that it's not a good idea to take those pills on an empty stomach so I got Beef and Broccoli with a side of chicken fried rice. I also bought you and the girls some ice cream, but you will only get it after you finish dinner," he said with a grin.

"Seriously, Ter. You are awesome," Max muttered as she shoveled a fork full of beef into her mouth.

Terry watched amused as his best friend's face light up in delight and happiness as she inhaled lunch hungrily. Placing her cup of soda on the table next to her, he couldn't help but frown at the sight of cuts and bruises still littered across her body. He hated the fact that she was hurt and there was nothing that he could do to ease any of her pain. Despite the brutal condition of her body, Max seemed to have a huge appetite and was in high spirits as she polished off her lunch and afternoon treat. After she had finished eating, they sat in a comfortable silence for awhile before Terry struck up a conversation.

"So how have things been going with your current living arraignment?" he asked with a curious smile.

As expected, Max sighed exasperated and rolled her eyes. If she had her way, she rather still be in the hospital. She rather suffer eating disgusting jello served from the hospital's cafeteria rather then endure one more moment of Bruce Wayne's dark residence. She didn't know why, but the place gave her the creeps.

"Why didn't you ever mention that besides being Batman back in the day that Wayne had also added being a prison guard to his resume'?" she asked wryly causing Terry to laugh.

"I know that you feel that you are in a lockdown, but by the end of week you will be out of this dungeon. I promise," he reassured.

Max smirked.

"It might be sooner then that" she muttered.

Terry raised an eye brow curiously.

"What makes you say that?" he inquired.

"The old man got in touch with my parents. Apparently they suppose to arrive here in Gotham by tomorrow night," she sighed softly.

Terry stared at her confused. He thought Max would be overjoyed at the fact her parents would be home soon, but he was getting the distinct impression that Max was less then satisfied. In fact, she looked and acted as if she was downright displeased. He didn't know what was making Max act so weird, but narrowing his eyes, he knew he was determined to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was troubling her.

"So excuse me if I am wrong, but I thought having your parents back here in Gotham with you would be good news. Why do you look so bummed out?" he asked curiously.

Max sighed heavily.

"Because, I know my parents. They will make some excuse as to why my sister's life is too important for her to be here and how disappointed they will be for me doing something so reckless. It's going to be an ass chewing fiesta rather then "I'm so proud of you" reunion," she muttered darkly.

"C'mon, Max. You're over exaggerating. It won't be so bad," he tried.

Max wanted to snort rudely and tell Terry that he was out of his mind, but she knew that he was only trying to be a good friend, so she reluctantly held her tongue. Despite how hard Terry seemed to try, he would and could never possibly understand the relationship she had with her parents. While there had been a time in her life where she wanted her parents present in her life, she no longer cared whether or not they made her a priority. Ever since she had learned Terry's secret, she felt that the void that her parent's had left behind had somehow been filled with assisting Terry with protecting Gotham on a nightly basis. Unlike her mom and dad, she felt as if Terry needed her.

Noticing the grim expression on Max's face, Terry suddenly became concerned. He didn't know why Max was the way she was with her family. Sometimes he could tell by her attitude and behavior that she truly missed her family, and then other time she seemed completely detached. He knew that she had a pretty complicated life, most of which she never really open up to him about, but he never thought that things were so bad. Not wanting to see her in such a depressed mood, he decided to change the subject.

"Maybe this will cheer you up. I found some new leads on the missing doctor and the girl's mother," he started.

Almost immediately, Max's dark eyebrows shot up intrigued and she leaned in a bit closer to hear Terry's revelation.

"Well don't keep a sista in suspense. What did you find out?" she inquired curiously.

Terry couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle softly.

"Barbra had some under cover cops who picked up chatter in the streets about an exchanged going down later tomorrow night at the docs. Apparently the crooks got some perfected chemical formula and are planning to sell to the highest buyer. It sounds like the sellers are the same guys who were behind the kidnapping of the doctor so I told Gordon that I would check it out," he informed.

"Any idea of who the high roller purchasing the formula is?" Max asked, her dark almond shape eyes wide with curiosity.

Terry shook his head.

"I plan on putting in extra late hours tonight in hope that I might some more leads that would prove helpful to me before tomorrow's raid," he informed.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked hopefully.

Terry narrowed his eyes at her warningly.

"You promise me that you would take it easy and not waste your energy trying to help solve this case," he chided glaring at her playfully.

Max sighed defeated.

"Ok, fine. I won't. Besides, with everything that has taken place over the past two days we hadn't really been able to catch up the way we usually do. How is things going with Dana?" she asked curiously.

Terry forced a smile.

"Let's just say things are kind of on ice at the moment. I think I managed to lodge my foot in my mouth again, and I don't think that there is any possibility of repairing the damage I've caused," he said sounding almost remorseful.

Ever since the accident, he hadn't really had a chance to think about Dana. After their huge argument, he hadn't bothered calling her, or responding to her many phone calls to him. He knew that he had hurt her feelings that night with some of the things he said, and he knew that he owed it to Dana to apologize, but there was something he had to do first. Terry had to figure out what _exactly _was the nature of his relationship with his best friend, Max. After he had almost lost her in the tragic car action, he realized that he there was something more then friendship between them. The fact that they had nearly shared a kiss and that he was conflicted about it, made him realize that things with his girlfriend had finally come to an end. As much as he cared about the raven haired beauty, he couldn't in good conscience go on dating Dana knowing that he may have feelings for their mutual friend. Dana was a wonderful girl and she deserved to be happy, but so did he.

Starring at his pink haired best friend, Terry realize that he truly felt comfortable with her. There weren't any secrets between them, and he could truly allow his identity and alter ego to collide as one being around Max. She understood him and she never turned her back on him. More important then anything he trusted her.

As Terry sat quietly contemplating his complicated situation, Max watched stared at him feeling completely stunned. She couldn't imagine what could have possibly happen to put such a big strain between the couple, but whatever it was had to be huge. While a part of her was reeling from this revelation, another part of her was genuinely saddened over the disintegration of the relationship between two of her best friends. She was starting to speak, when Terry's gaze suddenly met hers, and Max's was surprised to find his handsome face clouded with apprehension and confusion.

"Listen, Ter. You know that I'm here if you ever need to talk," she offered quietly.

Terry smiled appreciatively.

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you, " he started uneasily as he shoved his hands in his pocket.

As Max waited patiently for him to continue, she was both taken back and stunned to see that there was an look desire lurking on the surface of his brilliant blue eyes. The way he was staring at her was the way he had looked at her once a very long time ago, but back then she had thought she had imagined it. Now she was standing in that moment and she realized that there was definitely something unspoken between them.

"Terry?" she pressed softly, as she gently bit down on her lower lip.

Terry exhaled sharply as he combed his slender fingers through his lengthy raven black hair feeling slightly uneasy.

"I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'm just going to just be straight forward. Ever since the accident I keep having these feelings...for you... that I don't understand," he said helplessly.

"I know. I feel it too," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

A ghost of a smile crossed Terry's lips. He couldn't help but feel the surge of excitement and sudden intense desire sizzling through the atmosphere between them. The feeling that he had in the ambulance was quickly began to surface again, and this time there was no chance of anything interrupting them. As he slowly moved closer to her, he could hear a sharp soft gasp escape her lips as she was suddenly overwhelmed by his nearness. His light cologne mingled with his delicious smelling aftershave was making Maxine slightly light headed with lust and she was finding it hard to breathe. Instinctively, she went to take a step back, when she realized that she was backed against the wall. Swallowing deeply, she met his gaze flustered and was surprised to find he was starring down at her with an amused smirk on his lips.

"What?" she mumbled defensively, as she shifted uneasy under his piercing blue eyes filled with a look she had never seen before.

"You can't possibly imagine how it takes everything in me to have to fight the urge to kiss you every time I'm around you," he murmured flushing deeply.

His words completely took Maxine off guard. She wanted to believe that what he was saying was coming from a genuine place, but with everything that has happened lately, she couldn't be sure that he wasn't just reacting off of emotions still lingering from the horrible car accident. Seeing the doubt in Max's eyes, Terry knew that he was going to have to do something quick to convince her before he lost his nerve.

Impulsively he moved his face closer to hers and kissed her abruptly, causing her to moan in surprise. As their tongues clashed together for their initial meeting, Terry couldn't help but enjoy just how soft and sweet Max's lips were. As their kiss began to grow more passionate, he planted his hands firmly on her shapely hips drawing her closer to his torso. Feeling light headed with pleasure, Max wrapped her arms around him to keep her balance. Moaning softly, she shifted slightly against him, blushing as she felt her breast firmly against his hard muscular chest. While her instincts were urging her to pull away from Terry out of respect for her friendship with Dana, she couldn't. Her body was selfishly molding itself to Terry's, and truth be told, Max knew that even if she had the will power to resist Terry and her desire, she wouldn't. The surge of chemistry that was passing between them was so intense that they could barely catch their breath in between kisses.

Pulling back slightly, Terry looked down into her gorgeous eyes glazed over with lust. The look on her face turned him on so much that he could barely contain himself, but he knew that needed to exercise some restraint. He didn't want things to move too fast before they both had the chance to figure out their feelings completely. As Max stared back at him with her dark eyes wide, and her soft thick lips slightly parted, she felt her body quiver dangerously as she suddenly became aware of the honesty that was filling the silence in that moment. The expression on Terry's face told her that he wanted her, and she wanted him, so what the hell was she waiting for?

Terry was opening his mouth to say something, when his phone went off loudly. Reaching inside of his leather brown jacket, he pulled out his phone and his smile faded when he saw Dana's name come across the screen. Suddenly he began to feel a strong overwhelming sense of guilt wash over him as he realized that he had kissed Max without giving Dana closure. Sighing heavily, he quickly realized how complicated things were becoming and if he didn't get a handle on the situation soon, people were going to get hurt. The last thing that Terry wanted to do was to hurt Dana, but starring across the room at Max, he couldn't deny that there was something intense happening between them, and he wasn't going to stand back and just ignore it.

"Terry, what's wrong?" Max asked concerned.

He stared down at her and smiled faintly. He knew that if he told Max the truth, that she would start on the same guilt trip that he was currently on, and he knew that she already had enough to deal with.

"It was my alarm reminding me to head out on patrol. I'll swing in and check in on you later tonight," he promised softly before disappearing out of the library.

As she watched him leave, Max couldn't deny the huge relief she felt at his exit. Even though she had enjoyed the kiss she had shared with Terry, she had to admit that the after effects left her feeling a little bit more then uneasy and guilty. Things between her and her best friend had always been simple and platonic and now all of that was starting to change. While a part of her wanted to embrace the new feelings surfacing between them, another part of her wasn't sure if she was ready for things to change. She wasn't sure if she wanted to trade in being Terry's best friend and sidekick in order to play the part of being his romantic interest. While Max was confused about a lot of things, one thing was for certain. There was no way she could be both, and she had the feeling that she would eventually have to chose.


	11. Chapter 11

**An: Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming!**

Batman soared across the dark Gotham sky on patrol engaged in his nightly duty of securing the crime infested streets of the dark city, but in reality his mind was a million miles away from the task at hand. Ever since he had departed Wayne's Manor, he couldn't stop replaying in his mind what had taken place between him and Maxine. Not only have the kiss been absolutely incredible and completely mind blowing, but it had resolved some of his conflicting feelings about their friendship. Before the had left, he had noticed an look in Max's eyes that he had never seen before, yet it completely turned him on. Her full lips were swollen and pink from their passionate kissing session, and her breathing had been shot and shallow as she was left breathless from the chemistry and sudden overwhelming desire rising between them. He had been in the middle of silently contemplating whether or not he should kiss her again, when his phone went off. His heart plummet in his stomach as he realized that Dana deserved more then his avoiding her calls, but after everything that had happened, he wasn't sure if he could find the right words to say to her.

While Terry knew that he was going to have to eventually deal with the aftermath of what happened, he could honestly said that he didn't have any regrets of what had happened with Max. The feeling he got being close and intimate with her was unlike anything he had ever experienced he still cared for girlfriend, he couldn't deny that he was feeling something different yet exciting for his best friend. Something that he couldn't wait to explore. As he headed toward downtown Gotham, Terry was rudely jerked out his pensive thoughts when his intercom buzzed softly in his ear followed seconds later by the sound of Bruce Wayne's voice.

"McGuiness? Are you there?" the old man demanded gruffly.

"Yeah, what's up?" the teenager responded clearing his throat softly.

"I just got off the phone with Commissioner Gordon. After I informed her of everything that has happened involving the missing doctor, she immediately sent detectives and the police over to her residence to see if they could find any leads. She just informed me that several of her boys found quite a grizzly scene over at the apartment," he started gravely.

"How bad was it?" Terry asked grimly.

"I'll let you judge for yourself. I'm sending the intel to your screen right now," Bruce informed.

Terry turned his attention towards the screen and seconds later, several documents began to pop up. As she studied the information he was receiving, he carefully began to read over the forensic report that had taken at the crime scene of the doctor's house where the hellish night had apparently begun. The corner had found two bodies, one who was killed with a gun shot wound to the chest, and the other who from several violent stab wounds. As he read the back ground information on the two murder victims, he was startled to find one of the victim's was an employee of Wayne's Corp while the other victim he vaguely recognized as a chronic drug user he busted a handful of times over the past year. As he continued to ponder over the information in front of him a frown began to form on his lips. Something didn't add up. Why would lucrative members of Wayne's Corp associating with an bottom feeding junkie?

"Was this all that the Commissioner was able to find out?" Terry pressed intrigued.

His response was a heavy sigh that came from the receiver.

"Unfortunately yes. The only lead we have so far is that the junkie that was killed and you have a mutual friend who might know exactly what his friend was mixed up in. I believe he goes by the street name of Rat," Bruce said wryly.

"Joey the snitch?" Terry exclaimed surprised," I find it hard to believe he is somehow wrapped up in this. His usual scene is street hustler and dope feign at the very worst. Murder isn't exactly his style."

"There is a chance that he may or may not be involve, but you won't have anything to lose by talking to him," Bruce pointed out, "I am currently having security tapes in my building of the doctor's lab and hopefully that would give me some clues as to who she had been talking to the past few days. Perhaps we can learn who knew about her project and wanted to kidnap her for it. Meanwhile, you should head out to the slums and have a chat with our little friend."

Terry immediately began to re plot his coordinates to head to the part of the city where Joey was known to frequent occasionally as his mind slowly began to wonder. The whole situation seemed to be getting a lot worse with each passing moment. Whatever the missing doctor had stumbled upon is enough to have some of the most notorious crime bosses willing to pay for the formula on the black market. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, the cold hard reality was that things weren't looking too good for the doctor. He knew that if he didn't manage to find the doctor soon, there was the grave possibility that she could already be dead. Shaking the grim thought from his head, Terry suddenly noticed that he had just arrived at his intended destination.

"Hey, Wayne. I am swooping down on our favorite informant as we speak. I'll call you once I manage to squeeze some information from him," Terry informed before shutting down the communication line.

As he ejected from the flying vehicle, Terry closed his eyes briefly as he secretly enjoyed the free fall down towards the roof he was aiming for. Seconds later, his heels gently hit the concrete pavement leading towards the roof door of the twenty story building that he was currently standing on top of. Grabbing his binoculars out of his utility belt, he gazed down at the street below and arched an eyebrow curiously as he noticed four suspicious looking men loitering near an Italian restaurant below. As he continued to watch closely, he noticed that Joey, the informant that he had been searching for, was pacing back and forth between the group of guys with an nervous expression on his face. Before Terry could pinpoint the source of Joey's discomfort, the informant broke away from the group of men, and began heading North into an alley with a sense of urgency in each step. Grinning darkly, Batman turned the invisibility notch on his belt before following closely in the shadows keeping an sharp eye on Joey weaved his way through dark alley's occasionally peeking over his shoulder to assure that he wasn't being followed.

After walking nearly two blocks, Joey finally stopped on a corner occupied with several women who were barely clothed and far too friendly. Batman frowned disgusted realizing what particular late night activity his informant was preparing to engage in when he noticed Joey handing two of the women several credits with an excited expression on his face. As the hookers began to fumble with Joey's belt bucket, Batman decided that it was time to break up the party. Making himself visible, the dark knight made his way into the alley causing a soft cry of surprise to escape the lips of one of the street walkers. Narrowing his eyes, he managed to look fierce and as intimidating as possible causing the girls to scatter abruptly, leaving Joey and Batman standing alone in the dark alley behind an shutdown Chinese restaurant.

"Jeez, Batman. You got to let somebody know when you are creepin' up on them. You nearly gave me a freakin' heart attack," Joey complained, his face completely pale as he clutched his chest tightly.

"Well the line of work you are isn't exactly for the faint of heart," Batman smirked as he closed the distance between him and the nervous informant.

Joey swallowed and smiled nervously.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Ever since I got out of the joint, I've been contributing as a well rounded member of society," he tried weakly.

Batman narrowed his eyes and laughed rudely.

"Don't bother trying to convince me that you are legit. I know for a fact that you still hang with slum. Now I need some information, and fortunately for me, you are going to tell me everything I want to know, dirt bag," Batman growled grabbing the thug by his collar and slamming him down hard against the concrete ground.

"Please don't hurt me," he pleaded frightened.

"I won't unless you make the wise decision to cooperate," he warned dangerously.

The informant swallowed nervously as he began to shake and tremble beneath Batman's dark glare.

"Listen, I want to help you out. I really do, but I can't keep being your snitch. If the wrong people learn that I've been running my mouth to the dark knight, the next time you come looking for me, I will be swimming with the fishes in the ocean," he hissed fearfully.

A part of the dark knight felt bad that he was putting the other man in a precarious position in order to get the information that he needed, but he knew that if he didn't bleed the snitch dry, he would fail to get any leads about the doctor's abduction. Thinking of the innocent faces of the little twin girls back at Wayne's Manor, Batman narrowed his eyes, strengthen his resolve, and tightened his grip on Joey's collar.

"Maybe after tonight, you might want to reconsider your career choices, now talk," he growled menacingly.

Joey gulped before nodding in compliance.

"The only thing I know is that a buddy of mine came to me a few days ago completely tweaked out of his mind. He swore to me that he witnessed my dealer Mitch get stabbed by some guy in a suit. He watched them put his body in some vehicle before speeding off. At the time, I thought my buddy was high and whacked out on something, but when I failed to get in contact with Mitch, I knew that something was wrong, so I started poking around in the streets to see if anyone had heard anything," he said faintly.

"What did you find out?" Batman interrogated.

"Several people told me they had seen Mitch yesterday morning alive and well. They said that he was ranting and raving and desperate to find this doctor broad, and that they were people experimenting on him. They said that he appeared to be high," Joey informed softly, "That's all I know."

Batman frowned confused. What he was hearing wasn't making any sense.

"If your friend said that he saw Mitch murdered, and other people believes they had seen him yesterday morning, how does that explain his time of death?" he mused aloud.

Joey shook his head confused.

"Hey, listen. I have no clue. I'm just repeating what I was told," he admitted defensively.

Joey had secretly hoped that his half hearted confession would get him on good terms with the dark hero, but he was horrified and dismayed when Batman reached out and grabbed him once again, rather abruptly, while glaring at him with an threatening look on his face.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he complained as Batman quickly began to bind his wrist together tightly.

"Waiting for Gotham finest to come and take you to what's going to be your home fore the next couple of months. Hopefully you will use your time incarcerated to chose a better way to spend the rest of your miserable little life," Batman advised amused before handcuffing the informant to the telephone pole and rushing off towards his Batmobile.

As Terry headed towards the roof, his head was beginning to cloud with doubt and worry. If he didn't find the doctor in time, he knew that he would lose track of a very important formula that could prove to be a major medical break through that could potentially cripple Wayne's company, but worse, two precious little girls could end up losing their mother, and he wasn't about to let that happen. As he soared through the sky towards the South side of Gotham, gritting his teeth in frustration, he silently made a a solemn promise to himself. As long as he had breath in his body, he was going to do everything in his power to protect his best friend and the two little girls at all cost. As far as t he doctor was concerned, Terry could only hope that he wasn't too late.

8888888

Meanwhile across town at Maxine's apartment, the moody pink haired girl sat alone in her bedroom with her door closed stretched across her bed with a heavy heart inside of her chest. Earlier that day she had learned her parents had arrived in Gotham, and rather reluctantly, she had packed her things and took a cab from Wayne's Manor back across the city to the home she had previously occupied alone. Reuniting with her parents had been awkward and bitter sweet to say the least. The moment she had stepped foot inside of the house, her sister and parents had immediately rushed to her side while constantly asking her how she felt and inquiring endlessly if there was anything that they could do for her. If it hadn't been for her mother shooing her sister out of the apartment to go grab dinner, Max was certain that a blood vessel would have exploded in her head. If there was one thing that Max absolutely hated, it was being the center of attention. While she had once longed for her mom and dad's affections and undivided attention, at that particular moment, she didn't desire either from her parents. All she wished for was to be left alone and heal in peace and quiet in her own solitude.

After Max's father had finished drilling her over every injury she had sustained in the car accident, he had insisted on her getting some much needed rest before finally leaving. After he had had finally exited the bedroom, Max exhaled a deep sigh of relief. For the first time she had been home, she was finally getting her privacy and a little peace and quiet. As she made herself more comfortable in her bed, the pink haired girl's thoughts began to drift towards Terry. She had been secretly been hoping that Terry would call her while he was on patrol so that she could escape her uncomfortable home life situation, but so far her phone hadn't rung once. She knew that there were several reasons as to why she had yet to hear from him. Max realized that he was either too busy handling the crime infested streets of Gotham, or he was avoiding calling her due to the explosive kiss they had shared earlier.

Thinking about the intense moment that had taken place back at Wayne's Manor, caused Max's face to grow hot. The moment that he had kissed her had completely taken her by surprise. As she recalled their hot and sexually charged encounter, Max blush deepened as she recalled how she had practically melted when Terry's lips had captured hers. There had been something so hungry yet so tender about the kiss, that it made Max shudder slightly at the memory. While she could truthfully admit that she had once fantasized about being with the dark knight, she was only now realizing that the attraction she had for him also extended to the man beneath the mask, her best friend.

Before she could fully contemplate the full extent of her feelings for Terry and the consequences that came with those feelings, her thoughts were momentarily halted by the sound of a soft knock on her bedroom door. Placing her cell phone on her nightstand, Max sat up straight in her bed before expressing her permission for whoever was behind her door to enter the room. Seconds later, the door slowly opened and the pink haired girl felt a ghost of a smile spread across her lips as her mom crossed over the threshold of the room and walked in carrying a tray containing a bottle of water, her medication and thick turkey sandwich. Max couldn't help but smile as a overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over her. She remembered her days as a young girl whenever she was sick and feeling down, her mother would bring her snack and sit with her in bed rubbing her hair soothingly in attempt to make her feel better. The moment quickly faded fast as Max realized that she wasn't genuinely happy at her parents abrupt return back into her life. She had learned to be sufficient and independent without them so long that, and now that they had resurfaced back into her life, she felt as if they was invading her space.

"Max, sweetie, is there anything else that you need?"

Her mother's gently voice abruptly jolted Maxine out of her deep pink haired girl shook her head appreciatively as her mom placed the tray on her nightstand.

"I'm fine, mom. Thanks for the snack," she said softly.

Her mother surprised her by smiling sadly and instantly Max became concerned.

"What's wrong?" she asked worried.

"When I heard that you were involved in a terrible accident, I almost lost my mind. I was so worried about you. When I heard that you were hurt but were going to make it it killed me inside that I wasn't able to be with you and comfort you sooner," she started quietly.

Her mother words made Max's heart twist in her chest, but her expression remained neutral. While she was touched and happy that her mom was expressing genuine concern over her well being, she couldn't help but still feel the bitterness and resentment that her parents absences had caused.

"I'm fine, mom. I'm just a little tired, that's all," she lied quickly.

Mrs. Gibbs smiled down at her youngest offspring sympathetically.

"I know, baby. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," she said quietly before placing a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead.

She was halfway out the door when she suddenly paused at the entrance of the bedroom.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that your friend Dana Tan stopped by. She's in the kitchen catching up with your sister. I told her that I had to come and check to see if you were up to having any visits," her mother informed.

At the mention of Dana's name, Max felt her chest tighten from guilt, but she quickly forced a smile.

"I'm okay. You can send her in," she said softly.

"Are you sure?" her mother asked warily.

Max nodded.

"I haven't seen any of my friends since the accident. I'm totally up for having visitors," she assured.

Appearing satisfied with Max's response, Mrs. Gibbs flashed her daughter one last warm smile before exiting the room. Minutes after her mother had disappeared from the room, Dana appeared at her door with a friendly smile on her pretty face, and a large stuff panda in her arms.

"Dana," Max exclaimed grinning as her dark haired friend leaned down and hugged her gently, "What are you doing here?"

"When my dad told me that he spoke to your dad and heard that your parents were back in town, I figured this was the best time to drop in on you and see how you were doing," she informed with a warm smile, "I'm glad to see that you are okay. Every since I heard about the accident, I have been so worried about you."

Max shifted slightly

"Chelsea is already planning a get well party for you. Zane said that it's suppose to be totally sway and the biggest event of the year," she informed with a sly smile.

Max smiled amused and shook her head.

"If you didn't notice, I'm not exactly in the condition to cut a rug," she said wryly.

Dana laughed softly before glancing at her phone. Reading the expression on her friend's face, Max she could tell that something was bothering the other girl.

"What's the matter?" Max asked gently.

Dana sighed troubled.

"I don't know if Terry said anything to you, but I can't help but notice that he has been acting pretty cold and distant lately. He hasn't been answering my phone calls and he's been dodging my texts. Things are really tense between us and I don't know if there is a way we can work through this," she said sadly.

Max felt a lump form in her throat as a wave of guilt wash over her. A part of her wanted to sympathize with Dana, but she felt like a hypocrite doing so when hours earlier she had been making o ut with Terry as if she didn't have a single care in the world. Max knew that if for one second she had allowed herself to think about Dana's feelings and her relationship with Terry, then she probably would hadn't got as physical as she did with her friend's boyfriend. Suddenly Max began to get a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She realize that when it came to her feelings for Terry, she couldn't explore a relationship with him while remaining friends with Dana. She knew that eventually she would have to chose between a relationship with Terry or her friendship with Dana, and while Max knew what the obvious choice was, she knew that her decision would be anything but easy.

Groaning she closed her eyes feeling the pending symptoms of a headache coming on. All she wanted to do was crawl under her covers, and hide until she had a chance to figure everything out, but Max knew that time wouldn't allow her the luxury to submit to her cowardice. She had to find a way to fix things, but she had no idea of how she was going to do that. Before she figure it out, Dana began to speak again.

"Did he say anything to you about us? Does it seem like he misses me?" she asked softly with morbid curiosity reflecting on the surface her of her dark almond shaped eyes.

Max swallowed deeply growing more and more uncomfortable with Dana's line of questioning with each passing moment.

"He didn't go completely in depth," Max started quickly," I just remembered mentioned something about it vaguely."

Dana still seemed more then a little distraught as she stared down at the pink hair, her attractive face filled with tension.

"Did it seem like he wanted to work things out, or did he look like he was completely over it?" she asked anxiously.

Max shifted in her twin size mattress feeling more then a little uncomfortable.

"I don't think it's my place to say," she started nervously.

Dana stared at her desperately with her thin lips trembling slightly.

"Please, Max. I really care about Terry and I don't want to lose him. I just really wish he would talk to me and tell me what he wants," she said quietly frustrated.

Max swallowed nervously.

"I'm pretty sure that he just have a lot on his mind. I think that if the two of you made time to sit down and seriously talk, then everything will be ok," Max assured quickly.

The raven haired beauty sighed heavily.

"I wish that Terry felt that he could talk to me the way that he talks to you," she said quietly, "I honestly think that if could trust me more that we could make things work."

Max inhaled sharply as she began to cave beneath the weight of her guilt. She couldn't do it anymore. Watching Dana in emotional distress was causing Max's heart to slowly break inside of her chest. She was slowly mustering up the courage to come clean to Dana about her feelings for Terry when fortunately her cell hone began to ring. Being nearest to the phone, Dana grabbed it off the night stand and went to head it to her pink haired friend when she caught a glimpse of the name that flashed across the screen and a look of surprise and hurt flashed across her face. Forcing a smile, she placed the phone into her friend's extended hand.

"It's Terry. I've been calling him for the past two days. I guess when it comes to you, his phone works just fine," she said bitterly.

Seeing the devastated on Dana's face, Max felt absolutely terrible.

"Dana, wait," Max started.

The Asian girl cut her off by shaking her head stubbornly trying to conceal her emotion as she headed towards the exit of Maxine's bedroom. As she rested her hand on the door know, she turned back towards her pink haired friend briefly with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Your mom told me that you needed your rest, and I promised her I wouldn't stay too long. I'll let myself out. I'm really glad that you are okay and I'll see you soon," she promised with a ghost of a smile of her lips as she headed towards the door.

She was almost through the exit with her hand on the bronze door know when she stopped suddenly, before facing Max. The look on her face revealed that she was hurt, angry and struggling to fight back tears.

"When you see him again, can you tell him that he has finally made it clear of what he really wants," she said barely above a whisper before disappearing out of the room closing the door softly behind her.


	12. Chapter 12

**An: I want to send a special shout out to , Dragon 77, RyokoMist and Moonlight015, for the reviews. Honestly this story would have drifted off to permanent hiatus land if it wasn't for you guys, so thank you for the motivation and I dedicate this chapter to yall...=) Enjoy!**

Later that night, Terry arrived back at the bat cave feeling frustrated and agitated beyond belief. He had just spent the past few hours on patrol chasing down the lead that his snitch had given him and unfortunately the trail had been cold. Starring at the clock on the wall, he felt a sense of doom looming over him as he realized that time was quickly running out. If he didn't find a solid lead soon, the doctors life would eventually come to a tragic end, and Terry couldn't bare the thought of the two young girls becoming orphans. Sighing heavily, he reached up and snatched his mask from over his head before closing his eyes briefly. The night had been long and exhausting and he was tired and cranky and more then ready for the nightmare he was dealing with, to come to an end. It had been well over forty eight hours since he had experienced a good night sleep, and while he usually had plenty of stamina, he was slowly starting to run short on energy. Terry was tempted to take a brief nap, but he knew that if he fell asleep on the job, he would pay hell for it later. Fighting back a yawn, he reluctantly opened his blood shot eyes and struggled to focus on staying awake.

Looking down at his phone, he was surprised to see that he had missed yet another phone call. Checking his caller ID, he felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach when Dana's name popped up across the screen several times. Exhaling sharply, he slowly began to feel a headache coming on, followed by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Terry knew that he would eventually have to talk to Dana, and deep down he feared that he feared that things had become far more complicated then he had ever expected. He felt terrible over the fact that he was purposely avoiding her, but didn't know exactly what to say to her without hurting her and exposing his new found relationship with Maxine. He was painfully aware at how close Maxine and Dana were, and he knew that he would have to tread lightly in his involvement with the two women in order to avoid permanently damaging their friendship.

Hearing the door to the entrance of the bat cave open, Terry lifted his head up curiously and smiled as he watched Bruce slowly walk over the threshold. trailed by his toothy companion, Ace. As usual, the dog greeted him with a dirty look before curling up in the corner preparing for his late evening nap. While Terry continued to brood and silently pondered over his dilemma, he was unaware of the old man observing him silently. Usually Bruce would avoid having conversations with Terry about his love life, but seeing how it might interfere with his duty as the dark knight, he felt that he needed to step in and offer his wisdom and advice.

"You've been unusually quiet for the past two days. Is everything alright?" Bruce asked sounding curious as he gingerly lowered himself in his chair in front of his computer.

"Everything is fine," Terry mumbled before he became distracted when he felt his phone vibrate against his hip.

"How's Max doing?" he asked gently.

"She's fine," he said cryptically.

Bruce chuckled amused. He could tell that the teenager was intentionally being evasive, but Bruce wasn't so easily deterred.

"I don't mean to pry, but I couldn't help but notice that something changed between the two of you after the accident," he said casually.

Terry groaned softly. He hadn't wanted to talk about his change of his relationship with Max until he figured out exactly what it was that he wanted, but he quickly realized that, unfortunately, he didn't have a choice.

"I know what you're going to say. You think that me getting involved with Max is a really bad idea, and you think it would be best if we kept things platonic," Terry grumbled unhappily.

To his surprise, Bruce chuckled softly.

"Actually, I wasn't planning on telling you what I think you should do. I think you have proven yourself mature and responsible when it comes to making important decisions. If you are capable of looking after this city, I believe you are capable of taking care of your love life," he said gently.

Terry sighed heavily before raking his fingers through his jet black hair with a helpless expression on his handsome face.

"To be honest, sometimes I feel that maintaining a relationship is a lot more work then protecting this city. It's almost impossible to have a normal life and at the same time be the hero that Gotham needs," he said quietly.

Bruce smirked and shook his head slowly.

"Take it from me, kid, it it isn't impossible, but it sure isn't easy," he said wryly.

"Is that why you and Commissioner Gordon didn't work out?" Terry asked bluntly.

The teenager's question caught the elderly man off guard and the smile he had been wearing moments earlier slowly faded from his lips. Moments later, a look of regret reflected on the surface of the his cool, steely gray eyes as he reflected on his past with Barbra. He knew that Terry suspected that there had been a mysterious romantic pass between the him and the former Cat woman. While Bruce was uncomfortable discussing his love life, or the lack of thereof, he knew that he would have to push his discomfort aside if he wanted Terry to completely understand how paramount his decision involving his personal life was. The truth of the matter was that Bruce had loved Barbra once, but unfortunately things hadn't worked out the way he had wanted them to. She was now the wife of the mayor, and he was still a single bachelor who had no intentions of every settling down in a serious relationship. Deep down, he was satisfied with that fact.

Turning his attention back to Terry, he stared him down seriously.

"Barbra and I were a little different from you and Max. We weren't exactly best friends, but we both shared a world that no one could knew anything about. She would have my back and I would have hers. Not only were we partners, but she was one of my closest friends and confidant," he said quietly.

"What happened?" Terry asked curiously.

Bruce smiled faintly.

"She wanted a chance of a normal life, and she gave up being Cat woman. She didn't want to remain a vigilante who hid in the shadows forever. When she met Sam, she found the life she had always wanted where she could continue to fight crime and have a chance at personal life, and I am happy for her. I'm telling you all that to give you a warning, Terry. I know that Max enjoys playing sidekick to you, and you trust her, but have either of you stopped to think of what would happen if one of you decided that you want an opportunity to have a normal life without the responsibilities that comes with you being the dark knight?" he asked curtly.

"I will never give up this duty. I gave you my word that I would always be committed to protecting this city," Terry said firmly.

"If I knew back then what I know now, I wouldn't change a single thing. We both know that you are nothing like me, Terry. You are way too young to be so excepting a life of solitude and great responsibility. I want you to know that if at anytime you feel that the duty you carry is too much and you want to walk away, I will understand," he said with an uncharacteristic gentleness in his voice.

Terry laughed amused and shook his head.

"No chance of that happening! Who would be able to replace me as the dark knight?" he asked with a smirk and a determined look in his clear blue eyes," You could have chosen anyone more responsible and more mature then me to protect Gotham, but you didn't. You saw something in me that this city needs and I am not about to walk away from it."

"Yes, but what if Max wants you to give it up one day? If you two become involved with one another, it's no longer just Terry and Max. It's Terry, Batman and Max, and she can't have one without having the other," Bruce warned gently.

His words struck a nerve in Terry and he realized that his mentor had a very good point. While he deeply cared about Maxine, he wasn't sure that he could make an easy choice when it came to deciding between her and his duty as the dark knight. While he knew that there were major risks that came with the territory of dating someone who was his best friend and knew his secret, he was willing to take that chance. He knew that it was because of her that made his job much easier.

"So I take it that since you are having all of these uncertain feelings for Max that you have ended things with Dana?" Bruce asked abruptly interrupting Terry from his musings.

Terry blushed lightly and shifted his weight from one foot to another with an uneasy expression on his face.

"Actually, I haven't," he said sounding guilty.

"I think you need to find closure with one girl before trying to figure out a relationship with another. In my experience, juggling two women can blow up in your face," Bruce smirked in amusement.

Terry snorted softly.

"No kidding," he said wryly.

Shortly there after, a comfortable silence fell between the teenage boy and his mentor as Bruce loaded the surveillance tapes from his office onto his computer. As they watched the video footage, both Bruce and Terry were lost in their own thoughts. Bruce's primary focus was on finding a clue leading to the missing scientist, and Terry's main concern was figuring out how we would resolve his situation with Dana and Max. Thirty minutes later when they had failed to find any incriminating evidence on the computer, Bruce sighed wearily before slowly rising from his chair.

"Where are you going? It was just getting to the good part," Terry said sarcastically.

"I will leave you to finish combing through the rest of this data while I'll go tend to the girls. The movie that they were watching is probably over by now," he informed.

"Shouldn't they be heading to bed by now?" he asked frowning.

Bruce grinned.

"Yes, but they unfortunately can't go to sleep without me reading them a bed time story. Apparently, I don't do the "voices" as well as Max," he said amused as he slowly made his way towards the staircase.

Terry couldn't help but chuckle softly in amusement.

"I bet its times like these are when you wish Max was still hanging around," he said slyly.

Bruce nodded with a soft sigh.

"I'd be lying if I said she wasn't a lot better then I am with those girl," he said smirking before turning and disappearing out of the bat cave.

As Terry continued to watch the footage, he tried best to focus, but he found it difficult. The conversation that he had with Bruce left a heavy weight on his mind, but it also bought him the clarity he had needing. As much as he cared about Max and wanted to be with her, he knew that his first priority was protecting Gotham City. He was sinking deeper in thought, when something flickered across the computer screen abruptly grabbing his attention. Reaching towards the keyboard that controlled the video playing on the screen, he keyed the video back to seconds earlier when the office had been empty. As he watch it play back, he tensed as he noticed three shadows enter the room from the fire escape.

Terry's chest tightened as he watched one of the men wave a gun a woman's face causing her to cry out in horror. Starring at her expression, he felt a wave of anger wash over him when he saw the look of helplessness and fear on her face. As he peered at the screen closer, he felt his heart skip a beat as he realized that the woman was the missing doctor! She was an innocent woman who didn't deserve any of the horrific nightmare she was being dragged through. Terry knew that once he caught up to the two men that had been responsible for Maxine's accident and the doctor's abduction, he was going to make them pay for the hell that they put the two women through. He would make sure of that. As he forced himself to push aside his emotion and to focus, he narrowed his eyes and stared closely at the screen looking for any leads that would help him find the missing doctor and her captives.

_"Sykes did you get everything we need loaded in the van?" the dark haired man asked curtly._

_The other man nodded._

Terry sighed frustrated as the audio became scrambled. Adjusting the audio, he reached for the knob to increase the volume and the clarity of the tape before replaying the video feed.

_"Once the doctor has perfected the formula, and we finish up everything here, I want you to double back and start tying up our lose ends," _one of the men said darkly.

_"Loose ends?" _his partner asked curiously.

_"Yes. We kill her, the kids and then we find that nosy brat from the wreck and finish her off too," _he informed curtly.

His partner scratched his head puzzled.

_"The mother and her kids won't be a problem, but how are we suppose to take care of the broad?" _

_"It shouldn't be too hard to find her. I have one of my boys tracking her down as we speak," _he confirmed.

Terry felt all the blood began to drain from his face as the conversation came to an abrupt and they disappeared from the office. Looking at the time stamp on the tape, he felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach when he realized that the security camera had picked up the activity two hours ago. His blue eyes widened in horror as he realized that Max was in danger. He had to warn her that she and her family needed to get out of the apartment as fast as they could. Grabbing his cell phone he quickly dialed his best friends' number. He growled an explicit curse after Maxine failed to answer his third phone call.

Grabbing his mask, he jumped inside of his Bat mobile and quickly exited the bat cave. He had to get to Max before the goons did and he could hope that it wasn't too late.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: I appreciate all the feed back and I hope that everyone will continue to review =)**

_Why can't I ever catch a break? _Max wondered unhappily as she laid across her bed starring blankly up at the ceiling.

The pink haired girl felt extremely tired, but due to all of the emotions swirling around inside of her, she was unable to rest. Dana's visit had left her feeling completely racked with grief and misery and no matter how hard she tried not to think about the situation, the pain that she had saw reflected in the Asian girl's eyes continued to haunt her. The last thing that Max ever wanted to do was commit the ultimate betrayal to her friendship with Dana by unrepentantly developing feelings for her boyfriend. It hadn't been Max intentions to fall for Terry, and as she thought about all of the close calls and the long nights she spent with his alter ego Batman, a small part of her wasn't surprised by her feelings. Discovering that Terry had been masquerading as the dark knight of Gotham City had completely changed her life and the dynamics of their friendship. Max went from being a girl who spent her days in quiet solitude to a girl who suddenly had a life filled with purpose and excitement. Protecting his secret identity and having someone he could confide in about anything had naturally drawn them closer together. Terry was the only person in her life that she completely trusted and felt safe with. No matter what messes she managed to get herself in, he was always there to bail her out, even if it meant putting himself in harm's way to do it.

As she continued to ponder the awkward situation that they were in, Max was relieved that she had the apartment all to herself and that the place was filled with silence. Earlier she had overheard her parents discussing important issues they had to handle at their offices, and her sister revealing personal errands she needed to run. When she had confronted them and demanded they tended to their issues, they had vehemently protested, but Max had finally convinced them that she would be okay alone. Growing bored of lying around motionless, she sighed softly before rising from her bed, and slowly hobbling in the direction of the empty living room. Lowering herself down on the couch, she propped her feet up comfortably before reaching for the remote that was sitting on the coffee table. She was flipping through the channels on the big screen television, when she heard her phone ring again.

Heading into the bedroom, she grabbed her cell off of her bed and sighed heavily when Terry's name came across the screen. Despite the fact that she was reluctant to talk to him due to the passionate kiss they had exchanged earlier, she knew t hat the longer she avoided his calls, the more awkward things would become. Inhaling sharply, she answered the phone, feeling her heart speed up rapidly inside of her chest.

"Hey, Ter," she started, "Sorry I miss your calls earlier but..."

Terry cut her off abruptly.

"Listen to me very carefully. You need to ," he urged frantically.

Max frowned confused. Something wasn't right. Terry sounded strange, almost as if he was frightened.

"What is it, McGuiness, what's wrong?" she asked worried.

"There isn't anytime to explain. You are in danger and you and your family need to get out of that place as fast as you can," he growled desperately.

Max felt all the blood drain from her face.

"Terry, my parents and my sisters left out awhile ago. I'm here alone," she stammered as she started to panic.

"Listen, I'm less then a couple of minutes away. I want you to make sure that you lock all the doors to the apartments," he warned sternly.

She was about to respond when she almost jumped out of her skin when she head the sound of knocking on the front door.

"Someone's at the door," she whispered terrified as she quickly bolted into her bedroom and slammed the door bedroom door behind her.

"Stay in your bedroom, lock the door, and hide. I will be there as soon as I can," Terry promised before hanging up.

Max felt her heart leap into her throat as her ears detected the echo of several more impatient knocks before hearing the threatening sound of the front door of the apartment being kicked open. Forcing herself to hold back the scream that was threatening to burst from her lips, she quickly rushed towards her locked window and struggle to yank it open. It was nearly half way opened when she heard the door to her bedroom fly open. Seconds later she felt paralyzed with fear as she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist before pulling her out of the window and back into the bedroom. She let out a painful cry as she was thrown roughly to the floor causing her injuries to scream in protest of the attack. Despite the fact that she was in a considerable amount of pain and scared of her mind, that didn't keep the pink hair girl from fighting back. Using all of her strength and courage, she buried her knee into his gut causing him to release her momentarily while he struggled to catch his breath.

Making use of the time she had to get away, she scrambled towards the window screaming to the top of lungs hoping someone would hear her. Her screaming turned into a soft yelp, as he grabbed her roughly by the back of the neck before slamming her down on her back and straddling her pinning her firmly to the ground.

"You know that you have been a real pain in the ass. It's no wonder my partner wants you dead," he hissed agitated as he reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a gun causing Max heart to practically leap into her throat.

There was a murderous look in his eyes that revealed to Max that the man had every intention of hurting her in a very bad way.

"Please don't kill me," she pleased desperately as she felt the muzzle of his gun pressed roughly between her breasts.

The dark haired assailant smirked darkly.

"Don't bother begging, sweetheart. I have my orders," he said with coldness shining in his pale green eyes.

Seconds before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly flew off of her and went crashing into the wall on the opposite side of the room. The impact of the force of his body slamming into the wall caused her night stand to shatter and the picture frames on the wall to explode in million glass pieces as they hit the floor. It didn't take Max long to figure out what had happened as she watched as a dark figure slowly stalk towards the injured man. Crawling towards her bed for cover, she watched wide eyed as realized who the dark figure was. Batman swiftly reached down and grabbed her unconscious assailant by the collar tightly, before lifting him high in the air.

What happened next left Max shocked and speechless.

The dark knight slowly cocked his arm back, before smashing his fist into the side of her attackers face. Slamming him back down to the ground violently, he began to kick the crap out of the defenseless man. Once Max realized that Batman had snapped and showed no signs of stopping the savage beating, she quickly scrambled to her feet screaming for him to stop as she rushed over to him. As Max faced him down apprehensively, she noticed that what she saw frightened her so much to where she was visibly shaking. Never in her life had she ever seen him filled with so much rage and so much brutality.

"Don't! He isn't worth it," she pleaded desperately as she rushed to the dark knight's side, grabbing his arm trying to pull him off the unconscious man.

"He was going to kill you. Why shouldn't he suffer the same fate?" he growled heated.

Max grabbed his face in her hands and stared him straight in the eyes.

"That's not who you are, and you know it," she said firmly.

After a few tense seconds had went by the anger slowly drained from Terry's handsome face and he turned and began putting restraints on the motionless man. After making sure the assailant was secured, Batman rose back to a vertical stance before walking over to Max.

"I'm really glad that you are okay," he murmured quietly before wrapping his arms around her.

As he hugged her tightly, Max noted surprised that he was trembling like a leaf. The intense way that he worried about her both touched and humbled her. She knew that as long as Terry was in her life, she would never have to be scared or feel alone. The thought nearly made her melt as she leaned deeper into his embrace. As much as she tried to resist, she knew that it would be damn near impossible to fight her feelings.

"I wouldn't have been if you haven't shown up," she murmured relieved.

As they pulled apart he stared down at her with an apologetic smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry that I lost control and that you had to see me that way, Max. It's just that when I saw what that man did to you and what he was about to do...I just snapped," he trailed of helplessly.

"It's okay, Ter. I'm not judging. You've been through a lot lately. I understand how easy it could be for you to lose it," she assured gently.

Terry shook his head with an a frown his lips.

"It's not just that, Max. The thought of anyone hurting you makes me want to rip out their throats and to feel so strongly towards someone scares me," he admitted quietly.

The intensity of Terry's statement caused a shiver to dance down Max's spine.

To lighten the mood Max cracked a smile.

"Earlier I've been thinking that since I've been making a habit of nearly getting myself killed, maybe I should reserve a spot at the morgue," she joked morbidly.

Terry narrowed his eyes at her behind the mask, not appreciating her dark sense of humor. He didn't understand how she could be so nonchalant when she had just came seconds away from her life being taken away from her. Considering everything she been through over the past few days, Terry felt that it would have been more appropriate if she was an emotional wreck. However, he knew his best friend well enough to know that she was stronger and tougher then anyone he had ever known. She rarely let down her walls to show any emotion that involved tears. It was her guts and nerves of steel that he always secretly admire. Despite her ability to remain calm and collected after a dangerous encounter, he still didn't appreciate her laughing in the face of danger.

"Not funny, Max. Especially given the fact that you came dangerously close to being killed," he growled evenly.

"What can I say? People must feel that I'm to _die _for," she said smirking.

Terry scowled and was preparing to give a tongue lashing for making light of the very dangerous situation, but seeing her amused smile caused him to smile as well and pretty soon they were laughing together. Moments later, once their laughter had died down, Terry couldn't help but notice the pain that flashed across her dark and pretty face. Glancing down, he saw that she was favoring her left wrist gingerly. He took a step forward to examine her, but one playful glare in his direction stopped him dead in his tracks, causing him to chuckle softly. Starring down into her dark almond shaped eyes, he knew that he needed her in so many ways, that he couldn't even began to put his feelings into words. The way he felt about Max, was a feeling that he never experienced before. She was much more then just his friend, she was someone who kept him from going over the edge when life became too entangled and twisted. Without her, he knew that balancing his job as the dark knight who protected the Gotham City and his identity as Terry McGuiness would damn near be impossible.

Seeing how the atmosphere between them was becoming a little too thick, Terry cleared his throat and stared down at Max seriously.

"Until I catch whoever is behind the kidnapping of the doctor and the attack on you, I'm not letting you out of my sight," he started.

Max frowned and folded her arms across her chest defensively.

"As much as I want to tag along with you, I can't. What are my parents going to think when they come home and find that I'm gone?" she protested.

Terry racked his mind momentarily, before an idea suddenly struck him.

"We'll leave a note saying you're with me and we decided to catch a movie. I don't care what we have to do or say, Max. There is no way in the hell that I'm going to leave you alone again," he promised sincerely, "Not now, and not ever again."

His words caused Max's heart to race furiously in her chest and starring up into his beautiful blue eyes filled with raw emotions, she realized that he finally came to terms with how he truly felt for her. Terry was kind of in love with her, and she couldn't deny that she was kind of in love with him too. Suddenly the emotions that were starting to wash over her became overwhelming, and she felt tears starting to form in her eyes. Seeing that she was quickly becoming distraught, Terry moved closer to her and rested his hands lightly on waist as he stared down at her tenderly.

"I know what I want Max, and what I want is to be able to keep you safe. The way I feel about you is something I never felt for anyone and while it scares the hell out of me, it is a feeling that I never want to lose," he said huskily.

Lifting his mask halfway, Terry leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. While he knew that it was wrong to kiss her while he was still questionably involved with Dana, he realized that he couldn't help himself. As he molded his lips against hers, he could taste the sweetness as his tongue lightly swept the inside of her mouth. Max released a soft sigh as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his gentle kiss. She knew that she shouldn't be kissing Terry when they had yet figured out the status of their relationship, but a part of her didn't care. She had just went through another life threatening situation with a man who was trying to kill her for some unknown reason, and she needed comfort that only a certain masked man could provide.

As they pulled apart, Max felt her racing faster and her palms becoming slightly moist. If she had her way, she would explore her attraction with Terry at the next level, but she knew that they had a more important task they had to handle. Finding the missing scientist and reuniting her with her daughter was their main priority.

"When all this is over, we will figure out this thing between us," he said huskily, "I promise."

She watched as he walked over cleaned up the carnage in the room before grabbing the restrained assailant who was still unconscious. He turned to her all white eyes narrowed in determination in his eyes.

"Let's go get these bastards."


End file.
